Melbourne Cup declared a two-horse war

Punters have already declared Melbourne Cup a two-horse war with USA’s Spanish Mission the only threat to raging favourite Incentivise.

With several injured contenders falling by the wayside and out of Melbourne Cup contention in recent times, Incentivise is a huge losing result for bookies and is the favourite.

However, Andrew Balding-trained Spanish Mission is also tipped to win the race.

Melbourne Cup contender Away He Goes has been ruled out of the great race with a tendon injury.

It comes barely 72 hours after champion Sydney jockey James McDonald secured the ride on the British challenger.

Australian-owned Twilight Payment, Pondus and Cup second favourite Spanish Mission remain the only northern hemisphere-trained internationals in the Cup field.

The Melbourne Cup race will start at 4pm next Tuesday.

[Source: Herald Sun]