WHAT THE KEY PLAYERS IN THE MELBOURNE CUP ARE SAYING:

SNOW SKY: "I don't know if he's come on since the Caulfield Cup, he'll tell us that on Tuesday, but we had him pretty fit there and this will suit him better." - Trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

CRITERION: "He'll get a beautiful run now from barrier four and Michael (Walker) has just got to time his run and he'll present at some stage, you know he'll be there." - Co-trainer David Hayes.

FAME GAME: "It's a great honour to be a short-priced favourite but the rest of the field will be hard to beat." - Trainer Yoshitada Munakata.

OUR IVANHOWE: "I'm really happy with him. He's probably a little bit of a forgotten horse, but I was always taught if you run a place in the Caulfield Cup and you've got improvement left, you're going pretty good. So I think he'll go pretty good." - Co-trainer Lee Freedman.

BIG ORANGE: "I'm very much enjoying it and hopefully we're enjoying it even more at about five past three tomorrow afternoon," - Trainer Michael Bell.

HARTNELL: "We know that Hartnell, on the strength of his Cox Plate run is going to be competitive." - trainer John O'Shea.

HOKKO BRAVE: "The Caulfield Cup was an unfortunate race. The pace was not helpful for our horse. We believe we can beat Fame Game." - Trainer Yasutoshi Matsunaga.

MAX DYNAMITE: "His flat form mixes in with the best of the Europeans so I don't see why he couldn't be the first European horse home. If that's good enough to win that'll do me." - Trainer Willie Mullins.

RED CADEAUX: "If he runs in the top four it would be an astonishing result for a horse of his age to come to this country six times," - Trainer Ed Dunlop.

TRIP TO PARIS: "He ticks all of the boxes for me." - Jockey Tommy Berry.

WHO SHOT THEBARMAN: "You've got to respect the internationals - Fame Game and the English horses and Europeans - but I think my horse is probably the best local chance." - Jockey Blake Shinn.

SKY HUNTER: "For me he looks like a horse who has the credentials for the race. He travels well, he stays well and he has a finishing kick. And the recent weather won't harm his chances either." - Jockey William Buick.

THE OFFER: "He's a bit of an outside chance but if it rains it really brings him into the race." - Jockey Damien Oliver.

GRAND MARSHAL: "He beat Who Shot Thebarman to win the Sydney Cup. One thing we know with the pair of them is the distance is no problem." - Trainer Chris Waller.

PREFERMENT: "Of my runners, he has the `wow' factor." - Trainer Chris Waller.

QUEST FOR MORE: "I'm quietly confident that he'll run well but it's not a great draw in 21." - Trainer Roger Charlton.

ALMOONQITH: "If I was against Almoonqith I'd be very worried about him, the way he won at Geelong." - Co-trainer David Hayes.

KINGFISHER: "The first week was a bit difficult but in my view he looks as well as anything, in fact I'm amazed at how well he looks." Co-owner Lloyd Williams.

PRINCE OF PENZANCE: "I'm not sure whether he's good enough but a top 10 finish would be a good result." - Trainer Darren Weir.

BONDI BEACH: "He does have a big engine and that might take him a long way." - Jockey Brett Prebble.

SERTORIUS: "To be the only Australian-owned, Australian-bred and Australian-trained horse in the race. It's pretty special I suppose." - Trainer Jamie Edwards.

THE UNITED STATES: "He's fit and well. He's come through that race at Moonee Valley well. I think he's improved a bit and he's looking for a trip." - Co-owner Lloyd Williams.

EXCESS KNOWLEDGE: "Dropping to that luxury weight, he'll be more than competitive." - Trainer Gai Waterhouse

GUST OF WIND: "I think the 3200 metres, she'll gobble it up." - Trainer John Sargent.