Master Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien will have two of the Melbourne Cup’s hottest favourites running on Tuesday, but their fortunes have been shaped by a mixed barrier draw.
Key points:
Anthony Van Dyck and Tiger Moth join Sir Dragonet as joint favourites for the 2020 Melbourne Cup
Tiger Moth lost outright favouritism after drawing barrier 23
The TAB has predicted Anthony Van Dyck will start the race as the favourite
Anthony Van Dyck drew gate three, while Tiger Moth claimed barrier 23. After the draw Tiger Moth lost outright favouritism, drifting from $7 to $8, as stablemate Anthony Van Dyck firmed from $9 into $8.
That pair joined the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet, who drew barrier 14, as equal favourites.
The TAB’s Adam Hamilton has predicted Anthony Van Dyck is likely to start favourite as a result of the draw.
“Of the three most-fancied runners, Anthony Van Dyck was the best served at the draw and he’s likely to start favourite as a result,” Hamilton said.
Last year Surprise Baby drew barrier 20 when he finished an unlucky fifth, but this year drew favourably in barrier seven and is considered by bookmakers a good chance.
The Danny O’Brien-trained Vow And Declare won the Cup from barrier 21 last year and has drawn barrier four for his title defence.
O’Brien’s three other runners drew out with Miami Bound in barrier 13, Russian Camelot in barrier 16 and King Of Leogrance gate 18.
Omen punters would have noted that Jamie Kah, who rides Prince Of Arran, drew barrier one, which was the same alley as the only successful woman jockey Michelle Payne won from when she scored aboard Prince Of Penzance in 2015.
Joseph O’Brien’s Melbourne Cup starters Master Of Reality and Twilight Payment drew alongside each other in barriers 11 and 12 respectively.
Star jockey James McDonald was thrilled with Finche’s barrier draw in six.
“From that draw he should be able to get into a good rhythm. I should be able to put him in a good spot and there should be no excuses,” McDonald said.
The Chris Waller-trained Finche will be contesting his third Melbourne Cup having finished fourth in 2018 and seventh last year.
Finche is a $15 chance while stablemate and Caulfield Cup winner Verry Elleegant is at $13 after coming up with barrier 15.
The Victorian Opposition Leader has labelled Premier Daniel Andrews “dangerous and arrogant” during a failed bid to oust him from office with a no-confidence motion in Parliament.
Key points:
A no-confidence motion brought against Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been easily defeated in State Parliament
Victorian Opposition leader Michael O’Brien brought the motion forward and labelled the Andrews Government “a danger to Victorians”
Mr O’Brien accused the Government of a “litany of lies” during a scathing speech
Michael O’Brien’s move was labelled a “stunt” by Mr Andrews, and was easily defeated 44-23 during a marathon sitting of Parliament that stretched to 9:00pm.
The Opposition can only introduce one no–confidence motion of this kind in a parliamentary term, and it was doomed to fail due to Labor’s strong majority in the Lower House.
But before the motion, Mr O’Brien said there were a number of Labor MPs frustrated with how the Premier was operating, and he called on them to cross the floor.
“It’s quite clear that a lot of Labor MPs are privately very, very critical of the Government,” he said.
“The question is — are they prepared to put their money where their mouth is? Are they prepared to put their vote where the interests of Victorians are?”
When introducing the motion, Mr O’Brien delivered a scathing speech, describing the Government as “arrogant and incompetent” and “a danger to Victorians”.
“It gives me no joy to move this motion of no confidence of Premier Daniel Andrews and his ministers,” Mr O’Brien told Parliament. “But today in Victoria, circumstances are far from usual.”
Michael O’Brien hits out at ‘cavalcade of cover-ups’
Mr O’Brien said the Premier’s handling of hotel quarantine and the subsequent second wave had been a failure, which had let the state down “like no other government has done before”.
Michael O’Brien said Victorians had been served up a “litany of lies”.(AAP: James Ross)
“We are the live music capital, yet the music has stopped. We have the best dining in the nation, but restaurants and bars are closed.
“This is the legacy of the Andrews Government’s mishandling of the response.”
“Victorians want answers, and they demand answers because Victorians have been the ones to pay the price for this Government’s failure,” he said.
“Have Victorians seen the truth? No. They’ve had an avalanche of amnesia, a cavalcade of cover-ups and a litany of lies.”
Mr O’Brien also said Mr Andrews had “taken [Victorians] for fools” after denying the Australian Defence Force was on offer to guard the quarantine hotels.
In response to the motion, Deputy Premier James Merlino said Mr O’Brien had launched a “tasteless, heartless stunt”.
“He’s not a man concerned by the health of Victorians — he’s a man obsessed with his own popularity within his own party,” Mr Merlino told Parliament.
Earlier, Mr Andrews criticised the Opposition’s “cheap politics”.
“I’m not concerned by it and I won’t be playing it because it doesn’t work against this virus,” he said.
Commissioner could face more questions over changed evidence
Victorian emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp is among senior public servants also under pressure from the Opposition.
He could nowbe questioned before a parliamentary inquiry for a second time over his role in the state’s coronavirus response.
Andrew Crisp changed evidence he gave about briefing the Emergency Services Minister.(ABC News: Sarah Maunder, file photo)
In his testimony, he claimed he gave regular briefings to his direct minister, Lisa Neville, on March 27 and 28, when the hotel quarantine program was being established.
Mr Crisp then altered his written statement to say he did not brief her on those dates.
The committee now says it will extend its inquiry, which could mean Mr Crisp will be asked further questions about the change in evidence.
“The additional hearings will enable the committee to get supplementary evidence relating to the response to this ongoing pandemic,” committee chair Lizzie Blandthorn said in a statement.
“There will also be a further opportunity for written submissions to be presented that can assist the committee in examining the various aspects of the response.”
The deadline for submissions to the PAEC inquiry has now been extended to November 30.
