The Flemington track is likely to be a Good 3 rating by the time racing starts on Stakes Day, the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
At 7.30am on Saturday, the rating was a Dead 4 but with a fine, sunny day forecast with a top of 30 degrees, the Flemington track will improve quickly and by the time of the first race at 11.10am, it is likely to be upgraded by stewards.
By the time the last race is run on Saturday, 489 horses will have raced on the Flemington track in the space of eight days which is the equivalent of six normal eight-race cards. It is a remarkable achievement by track manager Mick Goodie and his team that the track has played so fairly across the carnival, given it has had so much traffic and it's unlikely there is another turf track in the world that could have taken so much wear and tear.
The first highlight of the day will be the $500,000 Group One Patinack Farm Classic (1200 metres) which sees last year's Emirates Stakes winner All Silent pitted against Greg Eurell's pair of Apache Cat and Mic Mac as well as David Hayes's classy four-year-old Nicconi.
Early betting markets have All Silent, unbeaten at Flemington, the favourite but Apache Cat's huge public following may see him challenge come race time.
Cox Plate winner So You Think is a short-priced favourite to win the $1 million Emirates Stakes (1600 metres) to complete a stellar spring for trainer Bart Cummings. The three-year-old's main danger appears to be the Mark Riley-trained Gold Salute which has a great Flemington record.
Scratchings for Emirates Stakes Day
*Race 1* 13. SLEEPERS 17. FORGIVEN *Race 3* 8. CRABS *Race 4* 9. REBEL TRUCE *Race 6* 8. SIR SLICK *Race 7* 7. MESSENGER 13. BRONISLAVA *Race 8* 15. SENTIRE 16. DESERT MASTER 19. MISS ALIA *Race 9* 13. SILENT SOPHIA
