We’re under six weeks away from the Sportsbet Melbourne Cup and the first round of Preludes kicks off this Thursday night.
What do the Preludes mean?
To be eligible for Sportsbet Melbourne Cup heats greyhounds must compete in a Prelude or win an exemption race.
If they win a Prelude, they’re guaranteed a run in heats.
What’s an exemption race? There’s a list of feature races where winners are exempt into Cup heats, meaning they are not required to compete in a Prelude.
Order of entry:
1. Exempt race (including Preludes) winners
2. Prelude 2nd placed runners sorted by ranking
3. Remaining Prelude runners sorted by ranking
Click here for more Sportsbet Melbourne Cup info
Click here for Thursday’s fields
TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE DREAMCHASERS SERIES
Click here to book your tickets to greyhound racing’s major events at Sandown Park and The Meadows in November and December.
It’s a pretty deep way to kick off Preludes.
Deadly Class is first up since his win in 29.16 – the ninth fastest greyhound this year. This is his toughest test since winning last month’s South Australian Derby but Anthony Azzopardi is very optimistic about what this boy is capable of.
Kysaiah has opened the favourite for Prelude 1 – click here for market
Smokey – Alpine Butterfly going under the radar
She trialled (in a satisfactory) following the last race on Sunday in a fast 29.31. She’s been beaten in her past four runs however has produced big efforts in each of them.
She’s back in the hands of Des Douch after a stint with Paul Abela and also features in the opening Prelude of the year. She opened $34 and has gotten as low as $12 – click here for the market
Baby Jaycee hungry for more
She was superb last week and the win was her best yet – her eighth from 12 starts. She won it at box rise with a flying 2.02 split to the 20 metre mark. She’s one of the headline acts in Prelude 2 along with Dynamic Prince.
To no surprise she’s opened the favourite for Prelude 2 – click here for the market
Paddy out to bounce back
Paddy Wants Pats was upstaged last week by McInerney in the Sportsbet Melbourne Cup Launch but lost no admirers. Despite beaten he still set impressive early splits, as he always does when on the pace.
Jump – 2nd fastest of the meeting (2.05)
Split 1 – 3rd fastest of the meeting (2.93)
Split 2 – 2nd fastest of the meeting (6.59)
He’s the favoureite ahead of El Dorado in the final Prelude of the night – click here for the market
Click here for Thursday’s fields
Click here for split times
