Viewed favourite, Daffodil well backed

Viewed is expected to start a dominant favourite to give Bart Cummings a 13th
Melbourne Cup win but New Zealand mare Daffodil has been the best backed runner a
day out from the famous race.
Winbet stood Daffodil for a bet of $320,000 to $20,000 each way at odds of $17,
while Alan Eskander laid the AJC Oaks winner to lose $450,000 in three bets at
Monday's Call of the Card.
"At this stage Daffodil is our worst result, it takes out over $600,000," Eskander
said.
"It was the best backed with us by far. We laid a bet to win $250,000, two separate
bets to win $100,000 and truck loads of smaller bets."
Eskander said Fiumicino was surprisingly well backed with him with a bet of $280,000
to $4,000 each way at odds of $71.
The biggest bet on Cup favourite Viewed was one to win $100,000 at $5.50 with
Centrebet placed by Sean Bartholomew and another to win close to $50,000.
Bookmaker Tom Waterhouse believes that price will not be available on course on
Tuesday.
"I think $5 will be the biggest price they'll bet tomorrow," he said.
Waterhouse laid Viewed, Alcopop, Kibbutz, Daffodil and Allez Wonder.
He laid $6 second favourite Alcopop for a bet of $100,000 to $20,000 each way, while
Allez Wonder, one of Cumming's three runners, was taking out nearly $300,000 at odds
of $31 and Kibbutz $170,000 at $81.
"Tomorrow is when the real betting happens," Waterhouse said.
"Most of my clients are waiting until tomorrow and the favourites will probably take
out over $1 million and Shocking will probably be a result and maybe one of the
roughies.
"Shocking at the moment is over the odds. It's a good race to work up on because it
looks hard to find the winner."
Apart from backing reigning Cup winner Viewed, Bartholomew also backed
Changingoftheguard with a wager of $75,000 to $3,000 at odds of $26 after which his
odds shortened to $21.
Another punter backed the David Hayes-trained import to win $100,000 but late on
Monday, stewards said he would have to pass a veterinary examination to take part in
the race.
While Viewed has been heavily backed with corporate bookies around Australia, they
were also hit with money for Daffodil.
Centrebet's Neil Evans said the money for Viewed had been strong since he went up at
$6.50 after final acceptances and he was generally around $5 or less.