Fame Game looks to make history in Melbourne Cup

Fame Game will attempt to become the first Japanese-trained winner of Australia’s most famous race, the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday.

Fame Game was the 3-1 favorite in future-book betting this weekend to win the two-mile turf race. He is one of several international runners in a race that has drawn successful imports from Europe in recent years.

Trained by Yoshitada Munakata for the Sunday Racing Company, Fame Game is a multiple stakes winner in Japan and was sixth in his Australian debut, the Group 1 Caulfield Cup at 1 1/2 miles on turf Oct. 17. Zac Purton rode Fame Game for the first time in that race and is back aboard the 5-year-old horse for Tuesday’s race.

The Melbourne Cup is actually a Monday night race in the United States, with a post time of 11 p.m. Eastern.

Reflecting the international aspect of the race, the English import Trip to Paris and Irish import Max Dynamite are leading contenders. Max Dynamite, trained by Willie Mullins, won the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup at York, England, in August. Frankie Dettori will ride Max Dynamite.

Trip to Paris won the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup in England in June and was second in the Caulfield Cup. Trip to Paris is trained by Ed Dunlop, who also starts the 9-year-old gelding Red Cadeaux, a 25-1 shot. This will be the fifth consecutive appearance in the Melbourne Cup for Red Cadeaux, who was second in 2011, 2013, and 2014 and eighth in 2012.

The leading Australian hope is Preferment, who won the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Oct. 4 but was ninth in the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Oct. 24.

The Melbourne Cup is a handicap. The 128-pound highweight is the English invader Snow Sky, who won the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and was fifth in the Caulfield Cup. The 4-year-old Snow Sky is owned by Juddmonte Farms and trained by Michael Stoute.

The globetrotting jockey Ryan Moore has the mount on Snow Sky. Moore rode Found to a win Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland and won the Group 1 Criterium International in Paris on Sunday aboard Johannes Vermeer.