Bell: this has been the plan for Big Orange for a long time

Aidan O’Brien, trainer of Bondi Beach and Sir Isaac Newton
Bondi Beach is in quarantine in Ballydoyle at present. Everything has gone well for him since his last run at Leopardstown. It’s a tough race. You need a horse who is capable of travelling well and you also need a horse who stays. Obviously, we think and hope Bondi Beach can do both. Sir Isaac Newton is down there [Australia] at the minute and the plan is that he will run in the Caulfield Cup on Saturday week. Everyone who travelled over with him reports him to be in good form, so we couldn’t be happier.

Tony Martin, trainer of Heartbreak City
He’s in quarantine in Newmarket and he isn’t going to Melbourne until Friday week. I’ve never been at the Melbourne Cup before and I don’t really know what to expect. It’s a handicap at the end of the day and he’s in there with as good a chance as any. He will need luck but it’s not as if he’s batting out of his league. We don’t have any particular jockey in our mind just yet. There are a few Australian lads in the mix and we’ll sit down and chat about it closer to the time.

Michael Bell, trainer of Big Orange
This has been the plan for Big Orange for a long time and we have kept him a fresh horse for his return trip as he hasn’t run since winning the Goodwood Cup in July. His form would suggest he’s a better horse than last year and he’s strengthened up physically. He’s in quarantine and doing his work in the afternoons at the moment and he heads out on October 13.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Wicklow Brave
We’ve been very happy with him since his Irish St Leger win and he’s arrived safely in Melbourne. He has settled in very nicely and he’s good when he goes abroad. He’s been working well and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

Charlie Appleby, trainer of Scottish, Qewy, Second Wave, Oceanographer and Francis Of Assisi
Scottish has the Caulfield Cup as his intended target and we will wait and see how he runs there before deciding whether to push on to the Melbourne Cup or else possibly look at the Mackinnon Stakes. The others haven’t yet passed the ballot for the Melbourne Cup, so there are races like the Geelong Cup and the Moonee Valley Cup that are possibilities for those horses. They have to win to get in to the Melbourne Cup.

Saeed Bin Suroor, trainer of Beautiful Romance and Secret Number
They are in quarantine and are both intended runners.

Ex-pat Hartnell looks the one to
beat – but don’t rule out raiders

RACING POST RATINGS
Sam Walker

Hartnell looks the one to beat in the Melbourne Cup after showing a significant upturn in form since the weights were published.