Irish billionaire JP McManus has two horses chasing Melbourne Cup glory, but his biggest bet has landed on a rival.

McManus put $1million on Hopewell Rock at Monday’s Call of the Card, with three bookmakers sharing a wager that would return him $9.6million if the overseas raider wins.

The plunge helped shake up the market ahead of today’s 3200m feature, in which McManus owns Goodie Two Shoes ($21) and Trustyourinstinct ($9).

He also backed Goodie Two Shoes, Soul Of Spain, Zakouma, So You Are and Point Of Law. But there was no bet on his own Trustyourinstinct, despite champion jockey James McDonald taking the ride.

McManus’ representative Paul Byrne explained why Hopewell Rock had attracted such strong support.

‘We think he’s got the best European form,’ Byrne said.

‘Coming out of the York and the Ebor is a good trial you’ll get. He has a great trainer (George Boughey).

‘But we were keen to give the bookmakers a fair chance with spreading it out across a number of horses.’