He has looked an ideal Melbourne Cup horse for a long time now, and I think that Vauban will justify his favouritism in 2023 Melbourne Cup betting.

Vauban has been a standout for world-renowned horseman Willie Mullins since making his debut, recording seven wins and a further four minor placings from just fourteen starts.

Having won a number of Group 1 hurdle events, the Galiway gelding gave them a galloping lesson over 2816m at Ascot back in June of this year, beating the likes of fellow Melbourne Cup contestant Absurde by nearly eight lengths, and he was last seen comfortably winning in Group 3 company over a mile and a half.

The big Flemington track will almost certainly suit him, Ryan Moore is in Australia to ride him, and with appropriate luck in running from barrier 3, I think he is going to take a power of beating.

One galloper that I thought was over the odds in 2023 Melbourne Cup betting ($26 at publish) is Future History.

Future History has enjoyed a strong and consistent preparation leading up to the first Tuesday in November, and he booked ballot-free entry into the race by winning The Bart Cummings here in early October.

He has been kept up to the mark with a nice performance for third, beaten less than a length in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup on October 27^th, and there’s no doubt that he is in absolute peak order for the Melbourne Cup.

Leading British jockey Hollie Doyle flies to Australia to take the ride, and the horse will relish an enormous drop in the weights down to just 50kgs. I think he should be able to find a fine position in running from barrier 13, and I’ll be having an each way play on this horse at the big price.

Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight is back for his second Melbourne Cup tilt, and he is undoubtedly in a far better position to win the race in 2023.

Having finished thirteenth, beaten twenty lengths by Gold Trip last year, the Teofilo gelding returned during the Brisbane winter for consecutive wins in the Lord Mayors Cup and the Q22, ultimately stamping his Cups claims.

He clearly needed his first run back this time when sixth behind Alligator Blood in the Underwood Stakes, but took huge improvement to a career-best performance and win, incredibly only second-up, in the Caulfield Cup.

Given that I think he’s still on the way up, he really needs to only see out the 3200m to be right in the finish of the Melbourne Cup as well.

I had Breakup on top in the Caulfield Cup a couple of weeks ago, and while he ultimately did need that run, I think he’s going to be absolutely spot on in the Melbourne Cup because of it.

The Japanese stayer has been a great horse since making his debut back in 2020, recording five wins and a further seven minor placings, and continuing to improve with each preparation.

A Group 2 winner over in Japan, he has found form this year in some of the world’s best staying tests, including the Hanshin Daishoten and the Tenno Sho.

With natural improvement, all signs point towards a big performance over two miles at Flemington in the Melbourne Cup 2023.