I don't think the markets have been impacted all that much. Perhaps very early on in the piece when speculation was at its highest, but racing has been the most aggressive sport in persisting during the lockdowns and I think there was confidence all along - well, since Northern Hemisphere racing returned anyway - that the visitors were coming. There's a little of hindsight talking on my part, but I think it was mostly wishful thinking that we'd get a race full of locals.

There may be a bit of impact by the shortened Northern Hemisphere season (e.g. Master Of Reality is one run down on last season and the runs he did have were with a shorter recovery between) but how that would impact the odds would be an individual matter. What will probably happen is that there will be more visitors having a run in Australia this year. The first and only flight arrived nearly 2 weeks earlier than the final flight in 2019. They'll have an extra 2 and a bit weeks before the Cup once they're out of quarantine (on Caulfield Cup Day).

The flight should be arriving in Melbourne right now. On board are: Anthony Van Dyck, Santiago, Prince of Arran, True Self, Buckhurst, Twilight Payment, Master of Reality, Tiger Moth, Stratum, and another 20 more; I can't spy a complete list anywhere.