Melbourne Cup Countdown

Have you ever heard of an Irishman throwing away Two Hundred Thousand Pounds on a horse? Now that's quite a few pints of Guinness! So when someone in The Emerald Isle has a hundred thousand quid each way on a horse to travel half way across the World and win Australia's greatest race, you'd better sit up and take notice!

The horse is question is the brilliant Irish stayer Yeats (pictured) trained at Ballydoyle by Aiden O'Brien. A former 12/1 chance for the Cup last week, he's now a clear 7/1 second favourite after a series of big bets were taken earlier this week. It's the most significant betting move on pre post Cup markets so far.

The bets were laid ahead of the horse's run in the Irish St Leger tomorrow, and most probably as a result of an official "green light" for a trip down under by connections close to the horse.

So, with 59.0kg on his back for the best stayer in Europe, if you're looking to take pre post doubles, then you might be wise to include Yeats amongst your selections!

Peter Morley