Melbourne Cup horses 2022: Form guide, expert tips, race predictions – CODE’s Best of Sport

Melbourne Cup form guide: Expert analysis of every horse

Daily Telegraph racing editor Ray Thomas and form expert Ron Dufficy rate the chances of each runner in the $7.75m Melbourne Cup.

1. GOLD TRIP

Ron Dufficy: Gold Trip has captured everyone’s attention with his good runs in the Cox Plate after striking trouble and Caulfield Cup at his previous start. He definitely has the class angle although he is yet to race past 2400m.

Ray Thomas: Gold Trip is a high class stayer and has the honour of carrying the number one saddlecloth even though he has only one race. His Caulfield Cup runs and Cox Plate efforts were very good.

2. DUAIS

Dufficy: Duais is a quality mare. She has won the Queensland Oaks, Coongy Handicap, Australian Cup and Tancred Stakes but she has been a touch off the ball so far this preparation. But she is too good to dismiss with the record that she has, especially from the inside draw.

Thomas: Duais didn’t have much luck in the Caulfield Cup but she will appreciate getting back to Flemington where she won the Australian Cup so impressively earlier this year. One of the main chances.

READ THE FULL FORM GUIDE + TIPS HERE

Melbourne Cup printable sweep – get yours here

It’s race day! Melbourne Cup 2022 is here. We have a printable sweep PDF with every horse to get your office ready for The Race That Stops a Nation.

Will you be lucky enough to draw hot favourite Deauville Legend, ridden by three-time Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy, or be lumped with a plodder like Tralee Rose?

GET YOUR PRINTABLE OFFICE SWEEP HERE

How Socceroos World Cup squad will be picked

Ask most experts and they’ll say the Socceroos are no hope at the World Cup. And that’s exactly the way assistant coach Rene Meulensteen likes it as selection time approaches, writes ADAM PEACOCK.

Maybe it’s the buzz of a late morning hit of caffeine in a warm cafe in the south of Manchester, but Rene Meulensteen doesn’t sound like a worried man.

Meulensteen is a key part of Graham Arnold’s Socceroos coaching staff. More than just an assistant, the Dutchman is Arnold’s eyes and ears across all of Europe, where the bulk of Australia’s World Cup hopefuls play, scattered across off-Broadway leagues.

He is also acutely aware of what Group D opponents France and Denmark, and their players with reputations bigger than the sun, bring. And he knows about Tunisia, the great unknown of the group.

Meulensteen is no dreamer. A life in football knocks realism into one’s soul, and Meulensteen has been in the professional game for 40 years, most famously as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right hand man at Manchester United for six seasons. He knows the Socceroos will go to Qatar anonymously, but there’s a glint in his eye.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

CricViz: How IPL inspired Stoinis World Cup blitz

Marcus Stoinis is enjoying a career year in key batting areas for Australia. He has the IPL to thank, writes CricViz analyst BEN JONES.

In many ways, Australia’s campaign in this T20 World Cup has mirrored their rivals’ England’s ODI campaign in 2019. The hosts had fallen comfortably behind the eight-ball after their opening defeat against New Zealand, and put themselves in a do-or-die position – and, right now, they keep on doing.

While many eyes will have been focused on the struggles of captain Aaron Finch, who found some fluency late in his innings of 63 (44), the most interesting contribution of the night again came from the man in the middle order, Marcus Stoinis. His total of 35 (25) might not be the most standout knock on paper, and indeed it was far from the difference between the two teams, but in many ways the lack of surprise in Stoinis arriving in the middle overs, dispatching a flurry of boundaries then departing, is the story itself.

Against Sri Lanka, it was Stoinis’ brutal take-down of Wanindu Hasaranga which saw the Aussies over the line in a nervy, must-win run chase. Today, when the Melbourne Stars batter arrived at the crease, at the halfway stage with Australia 3-84, there was still plenty of work to do.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Fitness-focused women’s sevens out to restore pride

The Aussie women‘s Sevens team is so hell-bent on rectifying their shock losing Olympics campaign they have taken their training sessions to unbelievable heights, writes BRENDAN BRADFORD.

Her late five-pointer against Fiji at the Olympics last year is the most heartbreaking try Charlotte Caslick will ever score.

With under a minute on the clock in the quarter-final, the Australian veteran broke free and scored under the posts, with a conversion making the score 14-12 to Fiji.

It was too little too late for Australia. Down 14-0 early in the game, Caslick’s late try gave the faintest glimmer of hope, but with just seconds left after the kick-off, Fiji held onto the ball to record the tournament’s biggest upset.

The defending champions and gold medal favourites were out. The shock defeat followed a group stage loss to the USA, with the team eventually finishing a disastrous fifth.

“We sucked so much at Tokyo,” Caslick laughs.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Anstey: My ‘love letter’ to Luc Longley

Luc Longley once wrote a heartfelt letter to a basketball hero, which was received but never acknowledged. CHRIS ANSTEY returns the gesture to the humble great after a remarkable road trip.

I sat across from Luc Longley at breakfast the morning after hosting An Evening with Josh Giddey in April. Another speaking tour, Luc – My Story, was on the agenda.

“So, why do you want to do this?” Luc asked.

I looked him in the eye and finally had the chance to tell him in person.

“Because there are so many people that would benefit from hearing your perspective on the journey that was your basketball career. Because of how generous you were to me and continue to be to others, at times that nobody is aware of, and how that impacts me. Because your insights to collective success, diversity and leadership are unique, and will leave everyone who hears them considering how they may be able to improve their own environments; business, sport or even family.

“Personally, you spoke in your Australian Story about not enjoying elements of the NBA and about having to unlearn some of what it made you. I was sitting there nodding, having never been able to verbalise that. As much as you helped me by reaching out to me back then, you continue to help me and others more than you may know.”

READ THE FULL COLUMN HERE

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