Enfjaar is third as Kingswood wins the Caulfield Cup

Varian looking forward to Melbourne Cup bid with Enfjaar

Horse Racing

Sat October 31, 2026 · 10h ago

Roger Varian believes Enfjaar will more than hold his own if seeing out the trip in the Lexus Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

The six year old will go into uncharted territory when tackling two miles for the first time in his career in the ‘race that stops a nation’ at Flemington.

After tasting Group Three glory in the Coral Glorious Stakes at Goodwood on his most recent start in Britain, the gelded son of Lope De Vega finished a respectable third last time out in the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup.

And on the back of that performance it has fuelled the confidence levels in his Classic-winning handler.

Varian said: “He is in great form. He ran very well to be third in the Caulfield Cup, that was a good run. He has come out of it well and we are looking forward to running him on Tuesday, it is a nice race to be involved in.

“He had a setback at the end of last year, which curtailed our autumn plans if we were foreign thinking, but it has worked out nicely this year. Hopefully there is a year or two left in him, and I think he will hold his own.

“The two miles is the question mark, but it is for a lot of them. He might get to the four hundred metre pole and not get home. If he gets home, and gets a clear run round then he could be a live contender.”

And despite Enfjaar being in the twilight of his career, the Newmarket handler is optimistic that his age will not hold him back against younger legs in the field.

He added: “He is lightly raced, and you look at these results from the international meetings year in, year out, you are getting six, seven and eight year olds winning these races.

“If you look after these horses there is no reason they can’t hold their form up until the twilight of their careers. If they are good enough they can take you to these places, and he was bought for this sort of programme.

"At the moment he has delivered it for his owners, and it has been a bit of fun. Hopefully that will continue at Flemington.”

Enfjaar had failed his initial veterinary inspection but passed the second unlike leading contender Defiantly, one of a strong team for Joseph O'Brien.

Racing Victoria said in a statement: "In the opinion of the veterinarians, Defiantly remains unsuitable to accept for the Melbourne Cup and has been withdrawn from the race by order of the stewards acting on veterinary advice."

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