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Five Melbourne Cup runners back up nine days later in Saturday’s Group 2 Zipping Classic at Sandown.
The $300,000 Group 2 Zipping Classic has attracted a small but select group of runners, a majority of which come out of the Melbourne Cup held on November 1.
Seven of the last ten Zipping Classic winners contested the Melbourne Cup at their previous outings.
The race that stops a nation has long proven to be a strong form reference for the Zipping Classic and it looks no different in the feature event on Saturday.
Big Orange ran tenth in the Melbourne Cup after settling sixth on the fence from barrier 7 and then proceeding to grind home.
Those who follow UK racing have become accustomed to the Duke Of Marmalade gelding bowling along out in front.
He gets an opportunity to return to this style on Saturday.
From barrier 2, expect jockey Damian Lane to work forward and proceed to dictate terms.
Big Orange should take some catching from there based on his lead up form in the UK prior to making the journey to Australia for the second time this spring.
He made all in the Group 2 Princess Of Wales Stakes (2414m) during the Newmarket Carnival three starts ago, returning a Timeform rating of 122 in the process.
The Michael Bell-trained galloper then ran to the figure once again when taking out the Group 2 Goodwood Cup (3218m) during the Goodwood Carnival.
Big Orange has now run to his master Timeform rating of 122 on four occasions.
He will take beating here if able to produce such a display on Saturday.
Who Shot Thebarman shapes as his apparent danger off a bold fifth in the Melbourne Cup.
The Chris Waller-trained gelding came from well back in the field to produce the result.
His performance returned a Timeform rating of 118 which sits five pounds below a master Timeform rating of 123 when a slender second in the BMW behind stablemate Preferment last autumn.
The son of Yamanin Vital was the 2015 Zipping Classic winner with a performance assessed at 121.
Who Shot Thebarman has struck some good form in his past couple of outings and looks an excellent chance of defending his 2015 Zipping Classic title.
Beautiful Romance is another who comes out of the Melbourne Cup, running seventh at big odds in her Australian debut.
It was a strong display under the circumstances after the daughter of New Approach stumbled out of the barriers and was forced to settle back in the field.
The performance returned a Timeform rating of 111, five pounds shy of a master Timeform figure she achieved when winning the Group 2 Middleton Stakes (2092m) at York in May.
She is promising and capable of playing a role in the finish.
Stablemate Secret Number was one of the first runners beaten in the Melbourne Cup.
The son of Raven’s Pass had genuine excuses though being caught wide early and then forced to work to the front at a solid tempo.
He was entitled to weaken in the straight and those willing to forgive could be rewarded.
The stayer is a multiple stakes winning galloper with a master Timeform rating of 118 achieved when taking out the Cumberland Lodge Stakes over this trip back in September 2013.
Only lightly-raced, he has since come close to running up to that figure on a number of occasions, namely in the 2015 Queen’s Cup 12 months ago when assessed at 116.
His Melbourne Cup lead up run when winning the Doonside Cup (2011m) at Ayr in September returned a rating of 115.
So Si Bon brings a different form line into the Zipping Classic having run fourth last start in the Victoria Derby (2500m).
Settled back in the field, he was finding the line well late.
He gets substantial weight relief off his more seasoned rivals here.
On the strength of his latest outing and a closing fifth in the Caulfield Guineas three starts back, the colt profiles as a value player.
Almoonqith rounds out the winning chances also coming out of the Melbourne Cup where he ran sixth.
Any give out of the ground would be appreciated by the son of Dynaformer who reportedly struggled on the firm surface offered at Flemington when contesting the Bart Cummings behind Almandin on October 2.
The Hayes-Dabernig-trained runner was solid in the Cup however meet the likes of Big Orange and Who Shot Thebarman worse at the weights from their clash on November 1.
Sticking with the proven class horses near the top of the weights shapes as the way to go in Saturday’s Zipping Classic, namely the Michael Bell-trained Big Orange.
