Half-brothers and former stablemates among Melbourne Cup field

International draw

Long famous as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup has long since ceased to be of merely passing interest in the racing world outside Australia. That largely changed in 1993 when Vintage Crop, trained by Dermot Weld, became the first winner based in the northern hemisphere. Weld repeated the feat with Media Puzzle in 2002, but it took a while for other European trainers to follow suit.

But there were consecutive French winners when Americain and Dunaden were successful in 2010 and 2011 for Alain de Royer Dupre and Mikel Delzangles respectively, while a German success soon followed when the Ryan Moore-ridden Protectionist won for Andreas Wohler in 2014. Joseph O’Brien matched Weld’s feat of winning the race twice, with Rekindling in 2017 and Twilight Payment three years later taking it back to Ireland and, in between, the long wait for a British-trained winner ended when Godolphin’s Cross Counter won for Charlie Appleby.

But it’s not just Europe that have taken the Cup overseas. In 2006, stablemates Delta Blues and Pop Rock were separated by a nose in a one-two for Japanese trainer Katsuhiko Sumii. This year’s Melbourne Cup field looks the most cosmopolitan yet, with representatives from Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan and the USA all set to take part.

Simon & Ed Crisford have technically already trained a Melbourne Cup winner, though their former inmate Without A Fight had moved on to an Australian stable by the time he won at Flemington in 2023 a year after finishing in mid-division for the Newmarket yard. Their representative this time is Meydaan who goes into new territory over two miles but was staying on well when mid-division in the Caulfield Cup last time.

Brian Ellison’s 2024 Northumberland Plate winner Onesmoothoperator booked his place in the Melbourne Cup again by winning the Moonee Valley Gold Cup with an impressive turn of foot, though connections will be hoping for a smoother run than in last year’s race when he was forced to make his effort very wide before finishing twelfth.

Andrew Balding’s three-year-old Furthur completes the British-trained trio, and while he won the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury in August, he’ll need to step up on his subsequent effort in the St Leger.

A first runner from the USA

Perhaps the most noteworthy overseas competitor this year is Parchment Party who will make history as the first horse trained in America to run in the Melbourne Cup. His trainer Bill Mott is no stranger to international success, having won the inaugural Dubai World Cup with Cigar, and went very close to winning a Japan Cup with Paradise Creek.

American breeding isn’t exactly known for producing stayers on turf, which largely accounts for the lack of US participation until now, but Parchment Party proved he stays at least a mile and three quarters when winning the Belmont Gold Cup at Saratoga over that trip in June by a distance of eight and a half lengths. Germany’s Melbourne Cup hope Flatten The Curve was back in fourth.

Heavy rain meant that the Belmont Gold Cup was transferred from the turf course to the dirt, also resulting in the race being run over two furlongs shorter than usual, but victory for Parchment Party earned him an automatic place in the Melbourne Cup field. He has since won a listed race over the same course and distance, and connections are reportedly confident about the son of Florida Derby winner Constitution getting the trip.

Half-brothers in opposition…

Two of this year’s Melbourne Cup field, Buckaroo and Middle Earth, share the same dam, and have ended up going halfway round the world to take each other on as they were bred in Britain. The elder of the pair, Buckaroo began his career with Joseph O’Brien for whom he won twice in listed company and contested the Irish 2000 Guineas. He has gone on to bigger things in Australia for Chris Waller, notably when winning the Group 1 Underwood Stakes at Caulfield last autumn.

After finishing second in the Caulfield Cup, Buckaroo was sent off the 5/1 favourite for last year’s Melbourne Cup but finished only in mid-division, coming from a long way back and having to come very wide making ground on the home turn before his effort flattened out. He comes into the race in top form again, having been touched off by the mare Via Sistina in the Cox Plate last weekend, but his effectiveness over two miles remains unproven.

His half-brother Middle Earth is more of a staying type and raced for John & Thady Gosden at three and four. He won the Melrose Handicap at York before underperforming in the St Leger but improved the following season, winning the Aston Park Stakes at Newbury and finishing third in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. While he has been less successful to date in Australia for Ciaron Maher, he was third in a Group 3 handicap on the Cox Plate card last time and he may be seen in a better light in a race that tests his stamina a lot more.

…and former stablemates

Another interesting head-to-head to keep an eye on will be that between Absurde and Vauban. The pair have been batting for the same side in the last two Melbourne Cups, but it will be a different story this time, with Vauban having left Willie Mullins since last year’s race to remain in Australia with Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott. Vauban hasn’t cut much ice in either of his Melbourne Cup attempts to date, including when sent off favourite in 2023. While he won last year’s Lonsdale Cup at York over two miles, that was with the emphasis on speed, and he gives the impression that he barely stays the trip. Vauban will also need to improve on his latest start in the Caulfield Cup where Absurde finished ahead of him once again.

Absurde, on the other hand, has run with more credit in his two Melbourne Cups, leading briefly in the straight when seventh under Zac Purton in 2023 and seeing the race out better last year when fifth under three-time Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy who is in the saddle again, staying on under a patient ride to be beaten a couple of lengths at most. In the meantime, the former County Hurdle winner has gained another win over hurdles, at Plumpton in the Sussex Champion Hurdle, but has had a more orthodox Melbourne Cup prep since in the Caulfield Cup. Running his best race on the Flat this year, Absurde didn’t shape at all badly in staying on well for seventh, around three lengths behind the winner Half Yours who will be one of the favourites at Flemington.

Posthumous success for Fastnet Rock or Wootton Bassett?

It’s possible that this year’s Melbourne Cup will be won by the offspring of a recently departed stallion. Two of the runners already mentioned, Buckaroo and Absurde, are by Fastnet Rock who is also set to be represented by the JP McManus mare Goodie Two Shoes, trained by Joseph O’Brien. Retired from stallion duties in the spring of 2024, Fastnet Rock died in September at the age of 24 after a highly successful stallion career in both hemispheres, shuttling between Coolmore’s studs in his native Australia, where he twice became champion sire, and Ireland. Although a son of Danehill and a high-class sprinter himself, that didn’t stop him siring good winners over much longer trips, as shown by his three Melbourne Cup contenders and Via Sistina, another of his northern hemisphere foals who was named Australian Horse of The Year for 2025.

It was only later the same month that Coolmore suddenly lost Wootton Bassett at the age of 17 whilst on shuttle duty in Australia. Wootton Bassett is enjoying a hugely successful season in Europe, particularly this autumn, with Al Riffa, successful in the Irish St Leger, among his recent Group 1 winners. His four-length victory at the Curragh was a high-class effort, and while he’ll have to shoulder top weight in the Melbourne Cup, he’ll be well fancied to give Joseph O’Brien a third success in the race.

Wootton Bassett now has another leading contender in Presage Nocturne trained in France by Alessandro Botti. He ran a clear career best at long odds to finish fourth in the Caulfield Cup where he was the best horse at the weights and he has plenty of form over longer trips in France.

• The Melbourne Cup takes place at 04:00 GMT on Tuesday

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