New Zealand duo lead the home hopes to win the Melbourne Cup

Australian-bred horses have largely dominated the Melbourne Cup in the last two decades, but the overseas runners have started to turn the tide in recent years and can continue to lead the way at Flemington this year.

Only four horses from outside of Australia and New Zealand have triumphed in the Melbourne Cup odds in the last 20 years, but significantly three of these have been relatively recent, with Americain the latest when winning last year.

Americain is bidding to successfully defend his title and he is 7/2 to win the Melbourne Cup.

However, punters believing that the home-bred runners do have an advantage have four almost guaranteed entries to pick from.

There are two horses set to take part from Australia, with three potential pair from New Zealand.

Of the Australian duo, each-way value is on offer as both Linton and Older Than Time are both priced at 50/1.

But Linton’s only previous run over 2m was in the Melbourne Cup last year and he was never a factor finishing well down the field.

Meanwhile, his three starts since August have failed to provide any encouragement that he will fare any better this year.

Older Than Time showed some promise when second in the Sydney Cup, but that race was arguably a lot weaker than the opposition in the Melbourne Cup.

There is greater hope among the New Zealand entrants, with Shamrocker and Precendence both having solid claims.

Shamrocker is 25/1 and been trained for the Melbourne Cup all season, which means that she may peak to perform at her best at Flemington.

Precedence can be backed at 33/1 and this could be a big price if he gets a position close to the fence, given that a wide draw was widely to blame for his disappointing performance in the Caulfield Cup earlier this month.