The most famous race in the Southern Hemisphere, the race that stops the nation has come around again. Read on for our Punting Stars 2017 Melbourne Cup Preview.
This years field is wide open with the shortest priced runner currently being last years winner Almandin at $8.50!
The track played really well on Derby Day with the inside proving a good place to be. That natural wear on the inside should even things out and make conditions really fair for the Cup.
See below for our assessed price and bets on every runner in the 2017 Melbourne Cup field.
Punting Stars 2017 Melbourne Cup Analysis
| Runners | Punting Stars | Bookies Price | Runner Comment |
| 1 Hartnell (12) Damian Lane 57.5kg | 21 | 26 | Cautious of his class and how short we had him rated in this race last year. Not going well though. |
| 2 Almandin (14) Frankie Dettori 56.5kg | 8 | 8 | Weight matters in this race and his last run was poor. Freak endurance horse though. Respect. |
| 3 Humidor (13) Blake Shinn 56.0kg | 15 | 8.5 | Better suited over 2000m on our figures. Will be a risk. |
| 4 Tiberian (23) Olivier Peslier 55.5kg | 31 | 31 | Very neutral here. |
| 5 Marmelo (16) Hugh Bowman 55.0kg | 13 | 9 | Good Caulfield Cup trial although a bit overhyped. Chance but under the odds. |
| 6 Red Cardinal (24) Kerrin McEvoy 55.0kg | 17 | 17 | Will need luck but has the right jockey to find it. Very capable but at his price. |
| 7 Johannes Vermeer (3) Ben Melham 54.5kg | 12 | 10 | Serious horse, is 3200m a concern though? Safe. |
| 8 Bondi Beach (1) Michael Walker 54.0kg | 81 | 51 | Couldn't back with any confidence. |
| 9 Max Dynamite (2) Zac Purton 54.0kg | 21 | 17 | Respect that he has run well here previously but appears short enough. |
| 10 Ventura Storm (6) Glen Boss 54.0kg | 41 | 35 | Rough hope but not much fat in his price. |
| 11 Who Shot Thebarman (20) Tommy Berry 54.0kg | 101 | 41 | No value at all in the current price. Won't be in our numbers. |
| 12 Wicklow Brave (8) Stephen Baster 54.0kg | 101 | 61 | Needs 4000m+ to win a race of this quality. Plugger who will run well but find others too slick. |
| 13 Big Duke (5) Brenton Avdulla 53.5kg | 14 | 21 | Good tune-up run in MV Cup. SP profile tick, drawn well and gun trainer. |
| 14 Us Army Ranger (22) Jamie Spencer 53.5kg | 81 | 61 | His best ratings have him some hope but very hard to price. |
| 15 Boom Time (9) Cory Parish 53.0kg | 41 | 26 | Good honest horse who fell into a Caulfield Cup. No value at current price. |
| 16 Gallante (18) Michael Dee 53.0kg | 201 | 101 | No value, would need to start now. |
| 17 Libran (7) Dwayne Dunn 53.0kg | 101 | 51 | No value. Aussie plugger who should be outclassed. |
| 18 Nakeeta (19) Glyn Schofield 53.0kg | 81 | 31 | No value. Consistent horse but doubt he can produce the number he needs here. |
| 19 Single Gaze (11) Kathy O'Hara 53.0kg | 81 | 41 | Brave run in Caulfield Cup. No value in her here though. |
| 20 Wall of Fire (15) Craig Williams 53.0kg | 21 | 13 | Seems short enough but certainly a winning chance. No value. |
| 21 Thomas Hobson (21) Joao Moreira 52.0kg | 21 | 16 | Struggled to nail down his number, certainly don't think he's value. |
| 22 Rekindling (4) Corey Brown 51.5kg | 12 | 17 | Serious horse. St Leger run was enormous when ridden very cold. Backing! |
| 23 Amelie's Star (10) Dean Yendall 51.0kg | 15 | 19 | Winning chance. Forget the Caulfield Cup run, she loves Flemington and ticks a lot of boxes. |
| 24 Cismontane (17) Beau Mertens 50.0kg | 61 | 41 | Strong win in the Lexus but this will be a bridge too far. |
Punting Stars 2017 Melbourne Cup Tips
Great race this year with lots of betting angles. Almandin is the horse to beat and he’s right at his price.
Our tips for the big race are as follows,
1. Rekindling
2. Big Duke
3. Amelie’s Star
Decent overlays on the three runners above and we will be backing them all.
Expect that Rekindling will shorten after drawing soft and the Williams factor.
We are really not sure how the market will react to Big Duke’s ‘failure’ at Moonee Valley while Amelie’s Star was very well backed two starts ago at Flemington so should have some admirers.
Good punting folks!