Cranbourne Cup Day preview & best bets | November 12, 2022
| What | Cranbourne Cup Day |
| Where | Cranbourne Turf Club – 50 Grant St, Cranbourne VIC 3977 |
| When | Saturday, November 12, 2022 |
| First Race | 12:35pm AEDT |
Victorian racing heads to the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne for Cranbourne Cup Day with the feature event worth $500,000. The rail sits in the +3m position for the entire circuit and we should have a fair track for all competitors on this stacked nine-race program. The track is rated in the Good 3 range for Saturday, but there are some scattered showers in the region, so we can expect a slight downgrade. The first race gets underway at 12:35pm AEDT.
Cranbourne Cup: Belle Plaisir
We’re searching for some value in the $500,000 feature Cranbourne Cup and landed with the Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained mare Belle Plaisir. She looks an outstanding each-way bet here with some terrific form-lines to her name with a strong effort last start in the Group 1 Empire Rose on October 29 going down by 2.5 lengths to Icebath. She pressed forward on what was a hot tempo and stayed on nice to finish top half of the field against her own pattern of racing. This mare by Proisir much prefers to be ridden with a sit and some cover, and from tactically positive barrier on Saturday we think Belle Plaisir should be able to run her race to suit, sit just off them and with form jock Craig Williams taking the reins here, Belle Plaisir looks one of the better each-way plays of the day at a good price with top online bookmakers.
Cranbourne Cup
Race 7 – 
#11 Belle Plaisir (6)
6yo Mare | T: Tony & Calvin McEvoy | J: Craig Williams (54kg)
Apache Cat Classic: William Thomas
In what looks a tricky sprinting feature, we’ve landed with another one at each-way odds in William Thomas for the Apache Cat Classic. This looks like a target race for the John Price stable with William Thomas’ best form coming early in his preparation with a first-up record that reads eight starts for three wins and two more minor placings. While he hasn’t won since April of 2020 his best run at the end of last preparation behind Uncommon James on August 13 was impressive and only went down by 2.6 lengths to the ultra-talented Queensland raider. If he can hold that form first-up here, he looks well over the odds to us. Dee has a pretty good record on this gelding by Nicconi as well riding him to two of his seven career victories. There’s plenty of speed on in this contest and William Thomas should be toward the rear smoking the pipe before flying down the outside late to give us a great shout late in the piece.
Apache Cat Classic
Race 8 – 
#9 William Thomas (7)
8yo Gelding | T: John Price | J: Michael Dee (55kg)
Best Bet at Cranbourne: Port Phillip
Port Phillip has been ultra-consistent with a career strike-rate of (10:4-2-1) and rarely running a bad race we’re surprised he hasn’t found market favouritism here. Two starts back he beat race rival Kissinger by 0.1 lengths in a dower affair at Caulfield on October 12 and does get a big penalty for that win of 6kg for his trouble, but subsequently went on to run a bold second behind Melbourne Cup placegetter High Emocean in the Bendigo Cup on October 26. This now clearly reads as the best form-line here and despite the 60kg toll here, Port Phillip should be shorter here in our opinion and based on that alone he must be a best of the day type with us. Jamie Mott takes the reins as he did at Caulfield and with an unbeaten three starts for three wins on this galloper, there’s nobody we’d rather have taking the ride. He’ll get back from the awkward barrier seven, but if he can overcome the gate, he should be making it career win number five.
Best Bet
Race 3 – 
#1 Port Phillip (7)
5yo Gelding | T: Julius Sandhu | J: Jamie Mott (60kg)
Next Best at Cranbourne: Cardigan Queen
Our next best of the day comes in the 1400m F&M Pendant and we’ve gone with the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained mare Cardigan Queen. She’s second-up heading into this contest and her first-up effort indicates she’s ready to peak early this preparation with a booming finish at Geelong on October 19 when 2.8 lengths away from eventual winner Turaath. She drew a horrid barrier last time out but has drawn perfect on Saturday from gate six, John Allen should be able to find a mid-field sit with some cover before producing a similar finish as she did first-up. This Sebring mare is becoming a costly galloper for punters with just the two career wins; however, this looks a perfect opportunity to repay the faith and get career win number three on the board.
Next Best
Race 5 – 
#6 Cardigan Queen (6)
4yo Mare | T: Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | J: John Allen (56kg)
Saturday quaddie tips for Cranbourne Cup Day 2022
Cranbourne quadrella selections
Saturday, November 12, 2022
- 1-2-4-7
- 2-5-6-9-11
- 4-5-8-9
- 2-4-5-9
Investment: $320 for 100%
Why is the Cranbourne Cup being run over 1600 metres instead of the usual 2050?