Irish Melbourne Cup challenge taking shape

The ante post betting markets for this year’s Melbourne Cup are dominated by Irish-trained horses as the country’s two Champion Trainers each set their sights on landing the coveted prize for the first time.

Irish trained horses have won the Melbourne Cup on four previous occasions. Legendary trainer Dermot Weld started the ball rolling with Vintage Crop in 1993 and repeated the dose when successful with Media Puzzle nine years later in 2002. Joseph O’Brien has also won the big race twice, with Rekindling in 2017 and more recently with Twilight Payment in 2020.

Joseph O’Brien’s father Aidan is yet to win the Melbourne Cup, but has a strong contender this year with the unbeaten Jan Brueghel, the current ante post favourite.

He is exciting. All being well, he goes to Melbourne and shows his true colours.

Chris Armstrong on Jan Brueghel

Aidan O’Brien is the perennial Champion Flat trainer of Ireland, having won the championship every year since 1999, but has so far failed to win the Melbourne Cup. His biggest Australian success came in 2014 when the aptly named Adelaide won the Cox Plate and now ten years later he looks to have unearthed a strong contender for the Melbourne Cup itself in the shape of Jan Brueghel. The three-year-old son of Galileo didn’t see a racecourse until 25 May this year, but has since rattled off four straight victories including most recently when achieving Classic glory in the Group One St Leger at Doncaster in September.

Stable representative Chris Armstrong told irishracing.com regarding Jan Brueghel: "He's good, he came through the Leger well.

"He has gone through all his tests so far which is the main thing. He's in quarantine at the moment and everyone is happy with him. He is progressing nicely from the Leger.

"He is due to fly out next Wednesday (9 October) to Australia. It is great to go down there with another runner. It is great to have, all being well, a live chance. It is a race that everyone is looking forward to.

"He's four from four and hopefully he makes it five from five.

"He has stamina, but I think he is one of those horses that has a high cruising (speed), he can cruise along and he will be up for the fight at the end as he was in the Leger.

"He has come along quickly - obviously, he started in May time this year, into a Group race then into Goodwood for another Group race, into the Leger.

"Obviously, he won his maiden by a big margin. In fairness, he has been dropped in the deep end (since then) and he has delivered.

"He is exciting. All being well, he goes to Melbourne and shows his true colours."

18 times Irish Champion National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins is also preparing a strong challenge for the 2024 Melbourne Cup as he intends to send the same two horses that contested the race for him last year, Vauban and Absurde.

Mullins’ only victories on Australian soil came courtesy of True Self which won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in both 2019 and 2020, but he has come agonisingly close to landing the Lexus Melbourne Cup on a number of occasions with second, third, fourth and sixth placed finishers in previous renewals of the famous race.

Willie Mullins told irishracing.com: “Vauban and Absurde are both in quarantine and we're very happy with both. They've settled in well in Newmarket and we're pleased with the way everything is going at the minute.

“Vauban's run in the Irish Leger and his win in York, the form of those two races is working out so well.

“Everything is looking good if I can just get him there in better order than I had him last year.

“Absurde ran a cracker in it last year and with a change of tactics he could hopefully be placed or maybe even win.”

The 164th running of the Lexus Melbourne Cup takes place on Tuesday 5 November at Flemington Racecourse.