Melbourne Cup horses 2022: Form guide, printable office sweep – CODE’s Best of Sport

Melbourne Cup five-minute form guide

No time to do the Melbourne Cup form? Check out our five-minute guide with likes, dislikes and verdict on every runner along with a trifecta tip. FIND A WINNER!

1. GOLD TRIP (FR) 57.5kg

French stayer brought to Australia in 2022 with Cups/Cox Plate ambitions, Gold Trip finished second in the 2022 Caulfield Cup carrying 57.5kg.

Trainer: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace

Jockey: Mark Zahra

Barrier: 14

Likes: Traditionally running a place in Caulfield Cup is fine Melbourne Cup lead-up form. Has four places at Group 1 level so class not an issue.

Dislikes: Loomed up to take the lead 200m out in the Caulfield Cup but then was ambushed by the eventual winner. Was making some ground in the Cox Plate with 200m to go but, unsurprisingly if the Cup is his real goal, found that field a bit fleet of foot for him over the 2,040m. Has just one win from 15 starts (2,200 metres), has never run beyond 2,400m and is being asked to lug plenty of weight.

VERDICT: Think the Caulfield Cup or Cox Plate distances were more his go. Is rock hard fit though and won’t be disappointed if the forecast rain comes. Top 10 hope, not sure top 5.

READ THE FULL FORM GUIDE HERE

Melbourne Cup printable office sweep

Melbourne Cup 2022 is here. We have a printable sweep PDF with every horse to get your office ready for the big race.

Will you be lucky enough to draw hot favourite Deauville Legend, ridden by three-time Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy, or be lumped with a plodder like Tralee Rose?

GET YOUR PRINTABLE OFFICE SWEEP HERE

‘Not taboo’: Irish cricket’s astonishing rise

In some parts of Ireland, playing cricket was considered near-treasonous. But fresh off a remarkable win over England at the T20 World Cup, the sport continues its phenomenal rise, writes SHANNON GILL.

Ireland v Australia, a blockbuster must-watch cricket match? Even young Irish batter Harry Tector would not have believed that when he followed the Australian team as a kid.

“They’re the team I always watched growing up, it was them and England on the TV,” Tector tells CODE Sports.

“Ricky Ponting was my favourite player.”

Lost between the rollicking Irish victory over England, endless washouts and Australia’s do or die predicament, is that Ireland are no longer the international cricket novelty that Australian fans once pegged them as. Tector, the tall twenty-two year old, is at the forefront of this new approach.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Wasim Akram: ‘I developed a dependence on cocaine’

In a new book, Wasim Akram reveals for the first time how he became an addict after his retirement from cricket – and how his wife’s death cured him.

“I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party,” he writes. “The culture of fame in South Asia is all consuming, seductive and corrupting. You can go to ten parties a night, and some do. And it took its toll on me. My devices turned into vices.

“Worst of all, I developed a dependence on cocaine. It started innocuously enough when I was offered a line at a party in England; my use grew steadily more serious, to the point that I felt I needed it to function.

“It made me volatile. It made me deceptive. Huma, I know, was often lonely in this time … she would talk of her desire to move to Karachi, to be nearer her parents and siblings. I was reluctant. Why? Partly because I liked going to Karachi on my own, pretending it was work when it was actually about partying, often for days at a time.

“Huma eventually found me out, discovering a packet of cocaine in my wallet … ‘You need help.’ I agreed. It was getting out of hand. I couldn’t control it. One line would become two, two would become four; four would become a gram, a gram would become two. I could not sleep. I could not eat. I grew inattentive to my diabetes, which caused me headaches and mood swings. Like a lot of addicts, part of me welcomed discovery: the secrecy had been exhausting.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

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