Willie Mullins, an Irish coach, may aim for a rare first Melbourne Cup victory on Tuesday in Australia’s most renowned race.
Mullins, the only man to train 100 winners at jump racing’s Cheltenham Festival, has targeted the Flat contest ( 03: 00 GMT ) as a key event he wants to win.
He hopes next year’s favorite Vauban, who finished 14th, may fare better this time, with Mullins even running Absurde, who took eighth place 12 months before.
At Flemington Racecourse, Sea King and Onesmoothoperator will compete against other European coach Harry Eustace and represent Brian Ellison.
Holden Cup runner-up Buckaroo is among the leading Australia-based hope in the’ culture that stops a country’. Coach Chris Waller, who was born in New Zealand, even saddles Kovalica, Land Legend, Valiant King and Manzoice.
Vauban won the Lonsdale Cup at York before coming in second place to Kyprios in the British St Leger the previous day, while Absurde won the Chester Stakes after winning the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
Mullins did adore winning a Melbourne Cup.
Mullins, 68, who finished second with Max Dynamite in 2015, said,” It’s probably the biggest level race in the world that I may get with the type of ponies we buy.”
” That’s why it’s a contest that we’d really like to win”.
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7 November 2023
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There have been four Irish-trained winners of the Melbourne Cup- Vintage Crop ( 1993 ), Media Puzzle ( 2002 ), Rekindling ( 2017 ) and Twilight Payment ( 2020 ).
Aidan O’Brien, Mullins ‘ compatriot, missed out on a chance to win the race for the first time after Jan Brueghel, Mullins ‘ rival, failed a veterinary check last week. Stringent checks on international athletes, aimed at improving the event’s safety record, were introduced in 2021.
After Charlie Appleby and Cross Counter did it six years ago, Ellison and Eustace are bidding to become the next American instructor to get the two-mile competition.
Onesmoothoperator won the Northumberland Plate before in the year, and on October 23rd, Australia, it won the Geelong Cup.
After winning on Prince of Penzance in 2015, American sprinter Hollie Doyle takes the journey on Bendigo Cup winner Sea King.
Doyle is among a record number of four women riding in this year’s race, alongside Jamie Kah ( Okita Soushi), Rachel King ( The Map ) and Winona Costin ( Positivity ).
” I think it’s the most critical thing”, said Waller. ” We’re all similar on a racecourse and that’s what makes racing but unique”.