{"id":950487,"date":"2026-11-03T01:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T01:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/950487\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T01:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T01:18:15","slug":"melbourne-cup-2026-live-hopewell-rock-favourite-asterix-scratched-at-flemington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/950487\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Cup 2026 live: Hopewell Rock favourite, Asterix scratched at Flemington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 11:50amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 11:50am<\/p>\n

Why was Asterix scratched?\"Michael<\/p>\n

What was asterix scratched?<\/p>\n

– Mark<\/p>\n

G’day Mark.<\/p>\n

Stewards found that a product called Penetrene was used on the horse this morning.<\/p>\n

It is a topical product to relieve muscle strains, sprains and muscle soreness.<\/p>\n

However, anything considered a medication, which Penetrene is, is not allowed on race day unless authorised by the stewards.<\/p>\n

Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 11:40amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 11:40am<\/p>\n

30 years since Saintly’s Melbourne Cup win for Bart Cummings\"Andrew<\/p>\n

While we’re all about today’s big race, sometimes it’s good to look back at some of the great stories that have come out of the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

Thirty years ago this week, the “horse from heaven”, Saintly,\u00a0ridden by Darren Beadman,\u00a0won at Flemington to give “Cups king”\u00a0Bart Cummings his 10th victory.<\/p>\n

Cummings, the unchallenged master of training Cup winners, always had a plan. But he broke his own hard-and-fast rules to guide Saintly’s campaign.<\/p>\n

Cummings’s long-time track rider, Joe Agresta, spoke to the ABC about those days and his initial thoughts about the horse.<\/p>\n

“He was a nice horse, but he was a gangly type of three-year-old,” Agresta says.<\/p>\n

When he turned four, things changed and the big-striding chestnut gelding won the Australian Cup earlier in the year before an unlikely win in the Cox Plate leading into the big day at Flemington.<\/p>\n

You can read the full story of Cummings’s training masterclass here:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 10:30amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 10:30am<\/p>\n

When do scratchings get announced?\"Michael<\/p>\n

When will we know if there are any scratchings please?<\/p>\n

– Cath<\/p>\n

G’day Cath.<\/p>\n

Thanks for joining us.<\/p>\n

There is no set time for when a horse needs to be scratched or not.<\/p>\n

Essentially, as soon as a horse is deemed unfit to run, that horse is scratched immediately. Then that news filters through quite quickly as well.<\/p>\n

So, when it happens, we will let you know straight away on the live blog.<\/p>\n

Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 10:19amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 10:19am<\/p>\n

Punters file into Flemington early for Melbourne Cup Day\"Michael<\/p>\n

Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 10:10amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 10:10am<\/p>\n

When are all 10 races at Flemington today?\"Michael<\/p>\n

There is a full day of racing at Flemington.<\/p>\n

Here is when the gates are scheduled to open for each race:<\/p>\n

All times are in AEDT<\/p>\n

Race 1: 10:45amRace 2: 11:20amRace 3: 12pmRace 4: 12:40pmRace 5: 1:20pmRace 6: 1:55pmRace 7 (Melbourne Cup): 3pmRace 8: 3:50pmRace 9: 4:35pmRace 10: 5:15pm<\/p>\n

Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 9:41amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 9:41am<\/p>\n

Welcome to the ABC Sport Melbourne Cup blog\"Michael<\/p>\n

Good morning, Australia.<\/p>\n

Welcome to ABC Sport’s live digital coverage of the 2026 Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

British horse Hopewell Rock begins Melbourne Cup Day as the favourite for the race that stops the nation.<\/p>\n

There has been rain in Melbourne over the previous 24 hours, with the Flemington track currently rated a Soft 5.<\/p>\n

Join Andrew McGarry and me throughout the day, and be part of the conversation in the comment section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tue 3 Nov 2026 at 11:50amTue 3 Nov 2026 at 11:50am Why was Asterix scratched? What was asterix…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,113592,84818,515932,517392,517391,822,85],"class_list":["post-950487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-flemington","tag-melbourne-cup","tag-melbourne-cup-day","tag-melbourne-cup-favourite","tag-melbourne-cup-time","tag-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}