Racing: Odds for stayer slashed by half

Don't think the Australian bookmakers missed much of Xcellent's win.

Melbourne's DoubleBet immediately slashed Xcellent's Melbourne Cup quote from $21 eighth favourite for the Cup to fourth favourite at $10 behind Plastered ($8) and Dizelle and Makybe Diva on $9.

It is one of the biggest single-race Melbourne Cup betting moves in the past decade.

"We don't have a stayer in Australia that can sprint like that and that includes the Diva [Makybe Diva]," said DoubleBet's Brian Taylor.

"There has been massive betting for the last month on Plastered, who last spring won the Victoria Derby. His quote has steadily tumbled into a short $8."

The New Zealand TAB made a similar dramatic reduction on Xcellent.

"We've dropped him from $20 to $9 on that effort," said chief TAB bookie Paul Lally.

"But he's still a bad result for us if he wins the Melbourne Cup."

Lally said there had not been one single huge bet on Xcellent for the Flemington feature, just steady, solid support from mid-range punters.

One option the New Zealand TAB is almost certain to make a killing on is the $145 to $1 on Xcellent winning all three of the Hastings treble legs, with the $150,000 Stoney Bridge Stakes to come in three weeks, followed two weeks later by the $1 million Kelt Capital Stakes.

Managing part-owner Paul Moroney said yesterday that the stable was 90 per cent certain Xcellent would miss the Stoney Bridge and go straight into the Kelt Capital.

"It's well recorded that before the Darley Stakes we gave him an exhibition gallop between races at Paeroa and we have the option of doing the same thing again," Moroney said.

"All the way through our aim has been the Kelt Capital then get him to Australia.

"We've always been worried that three long trips to Hastings is probably the wrong thing to be doing with him before going to Australia," Moroney said.