Vauban, winner of the Triumph Hurdle at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, looks certain to go off as clear favourite to win one of the world’s richest flat races.
Although the Willie Mullins trained Vauban is known best for his achievements over jumps, the popular Irishman’s stable have been building towards a tilt at The Melbourne Cup next month, and all the signs are that it’ll prove a successful move.
Like Vauban, Mullins’ biggest moments to date have come in National Hunt racing, with the Irishman boasting a record 94 victories at the Cheltenham Festival. But the multi-million dollar ‘race that stops a nation’ has proved too big a prize to ignore.
Mullins explained, “As flat racing goes, this is probably as high as we’d go, that or maybe a Gold Cup horse in Ascot or the Prix du Cadran in Paris. The nature of this race [Melbourne Cup] helps us – and there’s the small matter of eight million Australian dollars too!”
Vauban’s reintroduction to flat racing couldn’t have gone much better, winning the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot to secure his spot in the Melbourne Cup, before following it up with another victory at Naas in August.
Even then, Vauban could still be backed at 7/1 for victory at Flemington Park, but a generous Melbourne Cup handicap has seen his odds cut further, and Mullins’ assistant David Casey is more than happy with how his horse has settled after the long flight over, saying, “He travelled well. Delighted with him. It was great that he won at Ascot and backed it up when he won in Naas – we’re here and we’re delighted to be taking part and obviously hopefully with a horse that can be competitive.”
If Casey is understandably trying to play down Vauban’s chances, racing broadcaster Matt Chapman is far more bullish, claiming, “It’s quite possible there’s no point even running the race…the Australian handicappers may well be looking like absolute bananas on the first Tuesday in November”.
Bookmakers are echoing Chapman’s optimism, with betting site melbourne-cup.online confirming Vauban is now no bigger than 7/2 to claim the Melbourne Cup, while stablemate Absurde could make it an even better night for the Mullins camp, and is a live contender at 16/1.
Selected Melbourne Cup odds* according to melbourne-cup.online :
Vauban – 7/2
Gold Trip – 7/1
Without a Fight – 8/1
Soulcombe – 9/1
Breakup – 14/1
Lunar Flare – 16/1
Absurde – 16/1
*Odds correct at 12pm on 23rd October 2023
