Handicapper tips Melbourne Cup to be one of the greatest - Herald Sun

Star jockey Damien Oliver says 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Americain is a better ride than he ever imagined.

Americain (L) and Dunaden (yellow colours) do battle in last year's Melbourne Cup and handicapper Greg Carpenter expects them both to be there or thereabouts this year. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: Herald Sun

Gai Waterhouse says Glencadam Gold in on target to run in the Melbourne Cup despite a hoof issue.

The Melbourne Cup tops the list as the city's booziest sporting event of the year, a new report says.

HANDICAPPER Greg Carpenter believes Tuesday's Melbourne Cup shapes as a classic contest between the accomplished and the aspiring, pitting previous winners Dunaden and Americain into battle with unseen Mount Athos and Galileo's Choice.

Declaring the 2012 Cup as "challenging the 2010 edition as one of the greatest editions", Carpenter said Dunaden and Americain - winners of the past two cups - were physically equipped to lump huge weights to victory.

"That's not the problem," he said of the flying French pair. "Where the problem is that there are horses such as Mount Athos, Galileo's Choice and Ethiopia down in the weights.

"They're emerging horses with less weight.

"Dunaden and Americain are obviously racing really well and they're big strong horses, but whether they can give weight to those horses remains to be seen."

Carpenter believes a host of horses can win the Cup, but yesterday nominated Dunaden, Americain, Ethiopia, Maluckyday, Galileo's Choice, Mount Athos and Red Cadeaux as obvious winning candidates.

Carpenter said he did not agree with the Dermot Weld stable that Mount Athos had been "pitched into the cup" with 54kg, compared to Dunaden (59kg) and Americain (58kg).

"On what I saw in the Geoffrey Freer (Stakes), I don't think he's the 'peach' that the Europeans do," Carpenter said.

Trainer Luca Cumani refuses to split Mount Athos and My Quest For Peace, who has been highly impressive at Werribee this week.

Neither does he have any concerns over the fact Ryan Moore will be having his first Australian ride on Mount Athos in the Melbourne Cup.

"He's young, he's unafraid and he won't be fazed," Cumani said. "He's very, very committed."

Those sentiments were echoed by Kerrin McEvoy, who hailed Moore as "a great rider, very strong and a great judge".

Cumani said he is not worried Mount Athos will not have raced for nearly three months going into Tuesday's $6.2 million race.

Mount Athos last raced on August 18, sweeping to victory in the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes.

"If you look at his form he has only had the three runs for me and won them all and there have been big gaps between all three," Cumani said. "He is a horse that likes to run fresh."