The Melbourne Cup final field is taking shape but a query over several star horses has already emerged after Racing Victoria veterinarians did their preliminary examinations on Thursday.
Hot smokey and $26 shot Flatten The Curve will be re-examined on Saturday after RV vets discovered a change in the French-bred German raider’s gait.
Absurde ($18 with some bookmakers) also has a change in its gait as does $34 shot Goodie Two Shoes.
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All those horses will be re-examined on Saturday morning before the final field is locked in, while Interpretation — who presented with soreness in his right front foot following his fifth placing in Wednesday’s Bendigo Cup — will again be looked at on Friday morning (today).
Interpretation, however, sits well outside the order of entry and is currently 32 in the ‘next in line’.
The Flatten The Curve is trained by Henk Grewe, has never lost a turf race, and is ridden by gun Danish jockey (German born) Thore Hammer-Hansen.
Hammer-Hansen, 25, has won the past two jockeys’ championships in Germany, with Victorian Racing Club general manager Leigh Jordan recently describing him as a “boar”.
“I know (The Flatten The Curve) is a bit of a roughie but since Henk took over the horse he’s never lost a race on turf. He was in the Belmont Gold Cup when they changed to dirt and he obviously didn’t handle it,” Jordan said on SEN.
“Thore Hammer-Hansen is a boar. And that horse has got really good form, he could fly under the radar a bit. A bit of a roughie there.”
Out of the 34 horses that were examined on Thursday, 29 have been given the tick of approval and (according to RV) “have now been deemed suitable to accept for the Melbourne Cup in accordance with all relevant conditions of the race”.
The Bendigo Cup certainly shook up the possible Melbourne Cup field with Mark Twain, previously the 25th horse on the order of entry, withdrawn after finishing ninth in the 2400m Group 3 race.
Quietness (second) and Don Diego De Vega (fourth) also decided not to progress after their Bendigo Cup efforts, while the winner, Sayedaty Sadaty is now a likely starter in the Melbourne Cup after jumping to 25th in the running.
Other horses that have not accepted their invitation include So You Are and Star Of India (both were equal 38th in the running).
The 29 horses that passed the Thursday check-ups are:
Half Yours, Onesmoothoperator, Parchment Party, Torranzino, Valiant King, Al Riffa, Buckaroo, Arapaho, Vauban, Chevalier Rose, Presage Nocturne, Furthur, Middle Earth, Meydaan, Land Legend, Smokin’ Romans, River Of Stars, More Felons, Changingoftheguard, Athabascan, Royal Supremacy, Sayedaty Sadaty, Birdman, Post Impressionist, Scary, Trav, Etna Rosso, Whisky On The Hill and Golden Snap.
Melbourne Cup order of entry as of 5pm AEDT, October 30, 2025
1= HALF YOURS 5G ( Tony & Calvin McEvoy) 53kg
1= ONESMOOTHOPERATOR (USA) 8G (Brian Ellison) 53kg
1= PARCHMENT PARTY (USA) 5H (William Mott) 52kg
1= TORRANZINO (NZ) 6G (Paul Preusker) 51kg
1= VALIANT KING (GB) 6G (Chris Waller) 51kg
6 AL RIFFA (FR) 6H (Joseph O’Brien) 59kg
7 BUCKAROO (GB) 7G (Chris Waller) 57kg
8 ARAPAHO (FR) 9G (Bjorn Baker) 56.5kg
9 VAUBAN (FR) 8G (Waterhouse & Bott) 56.5kg
10 CHEVALIER ROSE (JPN) 8H (Hisashi Shimizu) 55.5kg
11 PRESAGE NOCTURNE (IRE) 6H (Alessandro Botti) 55.5kg
12 FURTHUR (IRE) 4H (Andrew Balding) 52kg
13 MIDDLE EARTH (GB) 6G (Ciaron Maher) 54.5kg
14 MEYDAAN (IRE) 5G ( Simon & Ed Crisford) 54kg
15 LAND LEGEND (FR) 6G (Chris Waller) 53.5kg
16 SMOKIN’ ROMANS (NZ) 9G (Ciaron Maher) 53.5kg
17 ABSURDE (FR) 8G (Willie Mullins) 53.5kg
18 FLATTEN THE CURVE (FR) 7G (Henk Grewe) 53.5kg
19 RIVER OF STARS (IRE) 7M (Chris Waller) 51.5kg
20 MORE FELONS (IRE) 7G (Chris Waller) 53kg
21 GOODIE TWO SHOES (IRE) 7M (Joseph O’Brien) 51.5kg
22 CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD (IRE) 7G (Kris Lees) 53kg
23 ATHABASCAN (FR) 7G ( John O’Shea & Tom Charlton) 51.5kg
24 ROYAL SUPREMACY (IRE) 5G (Ciaron Maher) 51kg
Next in line
25 SAYEDATY SADATY (IRE) 5G (Ciaron Maher) 51kg
26 BIRDMAN (IRE) 5G (Chris Waller) 51kg
27 POST IMPRESSIONIST (IRE) 7G (A & S Freedman) 51kg
28 SCARY (NZ) 4H ( Emma-Lee & David Browne) 51kg
29 TRAV (NZ) 6G (Raymond Connors) 51kg
30 ETNA ROSSO (IRE) 6G (Chris Waller) 51kg
31 WHISKY ON THE HILL (GB) 6G (Glen Thompson) 51kg
32 INTERPRETATION (IRE) 8G (Ciaron Maher) 51kg
33 FERNAO (IRE) 7G ( Annabel & Rob Archibald) 51kg
34 GOLDEN SNAP (JPN) 6M (Katsunori Tanaka) 51.5kg
35= SO YOU ARE 4G (Stirling Osland) 51kg
35= STAR OF INDIA (IRE) 7G (Chris Waller) 51kg
TOTAL: 36 (Withdrawn: DON DIEGO DE VEGA, GRAND PIERRO, MARK TWAIN, QUIETNESS)
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