Trio top choice

 THE Melbourne Cup is a race that stops Australia.

It may not be that big in PNG but the A$6 million (K12.5m) race does capture widespread interest from punters of all creeds, from the regular to the casual,.

The 2015 edition  is guaranteed to pull in big numbers that will head to their nearest betting shops today. 

Veteran radio personality, respected punter and former race caller Patrick Patu of FM 100 has backed New Zealand bred Preferement along with Irish stayer Trip To Paris and Japanese raider Fame Game.

“I visited the local bet shop (yesterday) and it was pretty quiet. There wasn’t that many people there which means they’ll be coming on the day to bet,” Patu said.

“The bookmakers open at 8am and they’ll be packed from that time onwards until the race at 2pm. 

“My advice to punters is to go there early to place your bets. 

“My top three for the 2015 Melbourne Cup is Preferment, Trip To Paris and Fame Game, in that order.

“The weather has been good over in Melbourne, the track at Flemington is rated as good; there were a few light showers over the weekend but it’ll be a dry deck.

“With the long distance (3200m), it won’t really matter in the early going but as long as your picks are close to the front or thereabouts —the last 100-150m, the home straight will be telling. 

“I think Preferment and Trip To Paris will do well and of course Fame Game is up there with a great chance.”  

Preferment, who has raced 3200m before, is the 2014 Victoria Derby winner  and is back 12 months later hoping to emulate the feats of Phar Lap and Efficient as the only two horses to have completed the Derby-Cup double in consecutive seasons in the last 85 years. 

He meets Hartnell and Who Shot Thebarman 1kg better for beating them easily.

Trip To Paris profiles perfectly for this Melbourne Cup.  He’s progressive. 

He will stay the trip without a worry in the world as a Group 1 winner over 4000m in England. 

He has the speed you need to win a Melbourne Cup. He is very well weighted with 55kg, meeting the likes of Big Orange and Max Dynamite better at the weights.

Fame Game is the Melbourne Cup favourite. He will eat up the 3200m distance. He was an eye-catching second in the Tenno Sho — Spring (3200m, Group 1, weight-for-age) in Japan earlier this year. That is seriously strong form for the Melbourne Cup.

With a scheduled start at 2pm (PNGT), the race at the Flemington racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria, will have most TV sets tuned in for Race 7. It will be telecast on EMTV. – The Roar