Youngstar looks the pick for Caulfield Cup 2018

Always an amazing spectacle, the Caulfield Cup features some of the best horses in the world battling it out over 2400 metres for $5 million in prize money in what is one of the toughest and richest handicap events in the world. The Caulfield Cup is the second most popular horse race in Australia behind the Melbourne Cup.

First run way back in 1879, the Caulfield Cup has a long and rich history in Australian racing and the race is the pinnacle event of the Caulfield Cup Carnival, and the major attraction of Caulfield Cup Day.

The field is limited 18 starters (with 4 emergency entries), which is decided by a ballot system. The prize money, wins and placing in lead up races are among the major factors that determine the eligibility of a horse, but automatic entry is awarded to winners of the Toorak Handicap, Herbert Power Stakes and the Mornington Cup.

Last year’s winner was Boom Time and the joint 9/2 favourites with bet365 bookmakers* going into this year’s race are Kings Will Dream and Youngstar.

Trained by Darren Weir and with Craig Williams doing the steering, Kings Will Dream was the long time Caulfield Cup betting favourite (TopBetta at 5.00, Unibet at 5.00 and Ladbrokes at 5.00) until his somewhat underwhelming run in the Turnbull Stakes. His runs prior to the Turnbull all suggested he was going to be a leading contender in the Caulfield Cup race and, with a good drop in weight here, he still looks a major threat.

Youngstar is trained by Chris Waller and ridden by Kerrin McEvoy.  With the exception of the legendary Winx, she put in the best run in the Turnbull Stakes and arguably the entire meeting at Flemington that day. Her two starts before that were both very impressive and with only 51kg on her back, Youngstar looks to be the one to beat on Saturday.

Other leading contenders include the Aidan O’Brien trained, Cliffs Of Moher, who finished off with the fastest sectionals in the Caulfield Stakes last Saturday and Night’s Watch, who had a disappointing run in G1 company in the Caulfield Stakes last Saturday that does see him drop a lot of weight here. 

Click here for more info about Caulfield Cup Betting

* Caulfield Cup betting odds correct at time of writing