Internationals In The Spotlight At Werribee

MELBOURNE, Australia–It has become expected that there will be a strong international challenge for Australia's most coveted prize, and no fewer than 11 overseas raiders look set to line up for the A$6.2 million G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

With the hard work of qualifying and travelling to the southern hemisphere complete, for those contenders at the International Horse Centre at Werribee, it's mostly a matter of fine-tuning as the countdown to the big day continues and the interest intensifies.

Final declarations for the Cup will be made on Saturday, with eight horses in action on that day still in with a last-gasp chance to grab a place in the 24-strong line-up thanks to the win-and-you're-in status of the G3 Lexus S. These include the Mike Moroney-trained G3 Geelong Cup winner Vengeur Masque (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}) and OTI Racing's Kellstorm (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-brother to the mighty Order Of St George (Ire).

At the time of writing there was still a question mark over the participation of last year's Melbourne Cup fourth, Qewy (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}), who is guaranteed a place on Tuesday and solidified his claims with a gutsy win in the G3 Bendigo Cup on Wednesday under Kerrin McEvoy. Should the Godolphin galloper not line up at Flemington, it increases the chances of Hugo Palmer's G2 Herbert Power S. runner-up Wall Of Fire (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), who currently sits in the number 24 slot but could be knocked out of the reckoning by the Lexus winner. While Palmer, currently overseeing his Breeders' Cup runners at Del Mar along with Qewy's trainer Charlie Appleby, may be facing an anxious wait, the diminutive Wall Of Fire looked pretty relaxed in an easy canter under Francesca Cumani's husband Rob Archibald around the Werribee grass track on Thursday morning.

He has been the subject of many positive whispers since his run on Oct. 14 but the international raider that the market is positively shouting about is Marmelo (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}). An eye-catching running-on sixth in the G1 BMW Caulfield Cup, Marmelo has shot up the Melbourne Cup betting since then, with only last year's winner Almandin (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) ahead of him. Trainer Hughie Morrison, in Melbourne for the first time, is however guarded in his assessment of his stable star. Still relatively lightly raced, with only 11 races under his belt, the 4-year-old will be returning to the track sooner than has been the norm in his carefully measured career to date.

“Having travelled a long way and running twice relatively quickly is a worry for a horse like him but he seems to have come out of [the Caulfield Cup] ok,” said Morrison.

“I wouldn't have worried about running him in the Melbourne Cup without a prep race–he won first time out after six months off and having been out in a field for two months. But the Caulfield Cup was good experience for how races are run here. He caught the eye, though others in the race were interfered with. His profile is good but he has a lot of weight. He only ran two and a half weeks ago and he's never come back that quickly so it has to be a concern.”

Hugh Bowman, who partnered Marmelo in his final strong piece of work on Thursday morning, was in a more positive frame of mind. “He blew a bit less this morning than he did in a similar workout before the Caulfield Cup but at this stage I'm not really looking at fitness levels. It's more about how he's come out of the race and he seems to have taken it well. I was very pleased with the feel he gave me. He coped with our style of racing but for me it's his temperament that's a real tick. He takes everything in his stride and I can only see him being better for having had a run here,” said the jockey.

Bowman may well be celebrated for his association with Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) but he has yet to win a Melbourne Cup. His weighing-room colleague Kerrin McEvoy has enjoyed that particular distinction on two occasions, and he was also in action aboard a European challenger on Thursday morning. McEvoy, who won his first Cup on Brew (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}) back in 2000, was successful again last year on Almandin but he will not partner the favourite this year. Frankie Dettori will jet in from California to ride Almandin and his former Godolphin colleague McEvoy has been booked to ride Red Cardinal (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) by Andreas Wohler, who trained Almandin's former paddock mate Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) to win the 2014 Cup.

Like Protectionist, Red Cardinal will run in the Australian Bloodstock silks, and he looked ready to lay down another serious challenge for Germany as he stretched out nicely to cruise past lead horse Garcia (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) on the grass.

“I couldn't be happier at this stage,” said Wohler. “He did his last piece of work this morning and Kerrin was happy too. He's taken the travelling very well. Going to the USA was a good test of how he would take it and then he had to go to Newmarket for quarantine, and then on to here.”

Wohler added of the G3 Belmont Gold Cup winner, “He's a different type of horse–Protectionist was a special horse and Red Cardinal is very good in his own right but a completely different character. It was a great feeling to win the Cup and once you have a taste of it you want to do it again. All the memories are coming back now that we're back here–it was the greatest moment we had in racing.”

Exercising in tandem at Werribee on Thursday were the Aidan O'Brien-trained Johannes Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Taj Mahal (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Last year's Derby runner-up at Epsom, US Army Ranger (Ire) (Gaileo {Ire}), has switched from the stable of father to son and is one of two challengers for Joseph O'Brien, along with the 3-year-old Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), who has been on the go since April 8 when he won the G3 Ballysax S. on his seasonal debut. All four O'Brien runners will compete for syndicates headed by Lloyd Williams, who looks likely to have six runners in the Cup.

Ireland's champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins has a trio of his dual-purpose horses stabled at Werribee, including the 2015 Cup runner-up Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {JPN}). The 7-year-old has had only four starts since then, his most recent appearance being a win at Killarney in August. If anywhere near back to his best, he is an intriguing prospect on 54kg.

Max Dynamite completed a strong workout alongside his stablemate Thomas Hobson (GB) (Halling) who needs two to drop out from the top 24 on Saturday if he is to make the cut.

Taking to the track without an equine partner but with former jump jockey David Casey in the saddle was Wicklow Brave (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), who has once again spent his season mixing top-class Flat events with appearances at the major jumping festivals. His run in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March set him up for victory in the G1 Punchestown Champion Hurdle and as a previous winner of the G1 Irish St Leger, the admirable 8-year-old must be the only horse currently in training to have won at the highest level under both codes.

Nakeeta (GB) (Sixties Icon {GB}), on the other hand, has only minor black type to his name via his runner-up finish in the Listed Grand Cup at York in April but he ran home strongly to claim victory in the Ebor, one of the toughest staying handicaps of the season. The first Scottish-trained horse to line up for the Melbourne Cup, Nakeeta had an easy morning, meeting his big-race jockey Glyn Schofield for the first time under the watchful eye of trainer Iain Jardine.

The story of Tiberian, (Fr), the first foal of the Haras du Logis teaser Tiberius Caesar (Fr), has been a quirky addition to the annals of the turf but the 5-year-old's participation on Tuesday should be taken seriously.

“I was interviewed by Channel 7 but I didn't fancy explaining on television what a teaser is,” said Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock's Darren Dance as he watched Tiberian (Fr) perform a perfect steady galop de chasse around the Werribee sand.

In five starts this season, the Alain Couetil-trained gelding has been beaten just once, his otherwise faultless passage to Melbourne including two Group 3 wins and his most recent victory in the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville. Still co-owned by his original breeding trio of French-based Englishman Julian Ince, and Germans Stefan Falk and Heiko Volz, with a 50% share having been bought by the ATB syndicate earlier this year, Tiberian typifies the increasing globalisation of racing, and of the Melbourne Cup in particular.