The clock is ticking… Yes, the ‘Countdown to the Group 1 Sportsbet Melbourne Cup’ has commenced.

And tonight’s $15,250 Sportsbet Melbourne Cup Launch Special Event (515m) – Race 8, 8.58pm – is a taste of things to come!

A crackerjack field will compete for a $10,000 first prize, including the three major players – Paddy Wants Pats ($3.00), McInerney ($3.50) and El Dorado ($3.80) – according to the fixed odds market on sportsbet.com.au.

Prepared at Freshwater Creek by Kelly Bravo, Paddy Wants Pats (Box 3) has won 17 races from 43 starts – including five from 10, with a slick 29.17sec PB, at Sandown Park.

The multiple Group race finalist was runner-up in the G1 Australian Cup and contested the G1 Perth Cup. He also won the Listed Western Districts Derby.

Million-dollar-man McInerney (Box 4) – trained at Lara by Brendan Pursell – returns from NSW after winning the Million Dollar Chase at Wentworth Park.

WATCH: MCINERNEY (B1) defeats ZIPPING KYRGIOS (B3) and HE’S ON FIRE (B2) in an enthralling finish to the Million Dollar Chase.

He’s won 22 races from 53 starts, including six of his past eight, and boasts a smart 29.24sec PB on this track/distance.

A high-class ‘journeyman’, McInerney finished third in the G1 National Sprint Championship – also at Wentworth Park.

Legendary Warrnambool owner-breeder Noel Mugavin explains the emotional naming of MCINERNEY to Gareth Hall on SENtrack. 

El Dorado (Box 7) – prepared at Blind Bight by Daryl Holmes – has ‘struck gold’ with six wins from 11 starts and a 29.32sec PB at Sandown Park.

He’s won 14 races from 27 starts, including seven of his past 13.