British and Irish Cup Challengers To Be Taken Seriously

When master Irish racehorse trainer Dermot Weld sent his classy stayer Vintage Crop to the other side of the globe for the 1993 Melbourne Cup, few, if any, racing pundits gave him any chance of bringing back the trophy to Ireland. When he did win, there was a rapturous reception for a feat that astonished the racing world, writes Elliot Slater.

In the intervening years, many trainers have learned from Weld's experience and overseas runners should now be taken very seriously, whether they come from Europe or from the Far East, such as 2006 winner Delta Blues, who landed the prize at odds of 16/1 for Japan.

Dermot Weld went on to prove his win with Vintage Crop was no fluke whatsoever when landing the 'race that stops a nation' for the second time, in 2002 with Media Puzzle, and this year has two serious challengers in the shape of Ascot Gold Cup winner and high class hurdler Rite Of Passage, and the tough and talented mare Profound Beauty.

Luca Cumani has gone agonisingly close to landing the prize in recent runnings, his Bauer beaten just a short-head in 2008, whilst the Italian maestro's Purple Moon failed by just half-a-length 12 months earlier. Cumani could be represented this time around by the talented Drunken Sailor and once again by Bauer, who is on the comeback trail after a spell on the sidelines.

Twelve months ago, Godolphin only narrowly failed to provide a shock 40/1 scorer in Crime Scene, Kerrin McEvoy's mount going under by three-quarter's of a length to local runner Shocking (ante-post favourite in Australia for this year's race). Grand Prix de Paris winner Cavalryman, third in last year's Arc de Triomphe behind the legendary Sea The Stars, could be joined by last year's St Leger winner Mastery and the classy Campanologist, in a particularly strong challenge from the Saeed bin Suroor team.

With regards to this year's Melbourne Cup tips, with Jeremy Noseda's recent Newbury winner Sans Frontiere and John Dunlop's pair of Tactic and Akmal amongst a number of other potential British/Irish raiders, there is every chance that Australia's most coveted sporting prize could leave home shores and be heading for the northern hemisphere this time around...