Melbourne Cup - Four Weeks to Australia's Biggest Horse Race

With less than a month to go, Australia's biggest, richest and most popular horse race, the Melbourne Cup, is expected to draw a number of overseas horses into the magic circle of 24 runners,

Already Bauer (Ireland), Mad Rush (USA) and All the Good (Ireland) are in quarantine at Melbourne's Sandown racecourse stables and they are expected to be joined by at least six more overseas horses.

In Centrebet's all-in fixed odds for the Melbourne Cup, former favorite Weekend Hussler has been supplanted by Littorio and last year's Melbourne Cup winner, Efficient.

Turnbull Stakes

In the first major feature race of the Melbourne spring racing carnival, Weekend Hussler was beaten by Littorio in the 2000m Turnbull Stakes at Flemington Racecourse on October 4. Last year's Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly finished second with Zipping third. Weekend Hussler finished eighth.

Littorio's win in the Turnbull Stakes could mirror Makybe Diva's path to the Melbourne Cup.

In 2005, Makybe Diva won the Turnbull Stakes, Cox Plate and, of course, her record-breaking third consecutive Melbourne Cup.

This year's Melbourne Cup is run in the afternoon of November 4.

• All About the Melbourne Cup
• Where to Stay in Melbourne
• Melbourne Hotels

Photo: Makybe Diva in 2005, Mark Dadswell/Getty Images