St Leger favourite Scandinavia one of three Melbourne Cup entries for Aidan O'Brien - and JP McManus has a mare in contention

Aidan O’Brien could be represented in the Lexus Melbourne Cup for the first time in five years as Group 1 Goodwood Cup winner Scandinavia was one of 120 nominations for the Flemington showpiece race.

Scandinavia has been the ante-post favourite for the Betfred St Leger since beating stablemate Illinois at Glorious Goodwood and is likely to take on dual Derby winner Lambourn in the Doncaster Classic.

Last year’s St Leger winner Jan Brueghel was an intended runner in the Melbourne Cup for O’Brien before the Racing Victoria stewards ordered the withdrawal of the ante-post market leader on veterinary advice.

O’Brien labelled the decision to ignore the horsemen and women responsible for Jan Brueghel as “ridiculous” but, ten months on, the Ballydoyle trainer has also entered Mount Kilimanjaro and Aftermath for the A$10 million (£4.86m/€5.59m) contest on November 4.

O’Brien’s saddled his last runners in Australia's most famous race in 2020, when Tiger Moth finished second and 2019 Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck suffered a fatal injury.

Unlike O’Brien, who has never won the Melbourne Cup, his son Joseph has twice been successful with Rekindling and Twilight Payment.

Al Riffa, bought by dual Melbourne Cup-winning syndicate Australian Bloodstock last week, is expected to run in the Irish St Leger before entering quarantine and then travelling to Victoria. He heads the ante-post market at 10-1 with bet365.

Joseph O’Brien could also run the JP McManus-owned Goodie Two Shoes, while Dermot Weld, another dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer courtesy of Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle, has entered Duraji and Harbour Wind.

Knight's Choice wins last year's Melbourne Cup with Absurde (pink cap) in fifthCredit: Reg Ryan (Getty Images)

Absurde finished fifth behind Knight’s Choice in last year’s Melbourne Cup and could attempt to reverse that length and three-quarters deficit for Willie Mullins, who has also entered Ebor sixth Hipop De Loire.

Onesmoothoperator was 12th in last season’s running and Brian Ellison could have another crack at the race with his Geelong Cup winner.

Andrew Balding’s Furthur beat the David O’Meara-trained Epic Poet in the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury last month and could provide British representation, along with Meydaan (Simon and Ed Crisford) and Tabletalk (Tom Clover).

Via Sistina is the star name in the entries for Chris Waller, while Sir Delius, third in last year's Grand Prix de Paris when trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, is a leading fancy for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, who have also entered Vauban.

The Bill Mott-trained Parchment Party is set to be the first US runner and will be ridden by John Velazquez, who partnered the four-year-old to win the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup by eight and a half lengths in June.

Leigh Jordon, executive general manager of racing for the Victoria Racing Club, said: "John is a legendary jockey, so it’s a great thrill to have him riding in the race. He's won in excess of half a billion dollars in earnings, he’s won Kentucky Derbys, he’s won Triple Crown races and he’s won more than 20 Breeders' Cup races.“

British and Irish-trained entries in Melbourne Cup

Absurde Willie Mullins
Aftermath Aidan O'Brien
Al Riffa Joseph O'Brien
Duraji Dermot Weld
Epic Poet David O'Meara
Furthur Andrew Balding
Goodie Two Shoes Joseph O'Brien
Harbour Wind Dermot Weld
Hipop De Loire Willie Mullins
Meydaan Simon and Ed Crisford
Mount Kilimanjaro Aidan O'Brien
Onesmoothoperator Brian Ellison
Scandinavia Aidan O'Brien
Tabletalk Tom Clover

Lexus Melbourne Cup (Flemington, November 4)
bet365: 10 Al Riffa, 12 Sir Delius, Vauban, 16 Deakin, Scandinavia, Trinity College, Via Sistina, 20 Aeliana, Buckaroo, Land Legend, Treasurethe Moment, 25 Absurde, Arapaho, Augustus, Flatten The Curve, Golden Snap, Hipop De Loire, 33 bar.

Analysis: 'The most interesting entry comes from Andrew Balding'

By Graeme Rodway, deputy betting editor

When it comes to assessing entries at this stage, the ones who are most interesting are those who can be considered wildcards. Forget the old favourites like Absurde, Epic Poet and Onesmoothoperator, and concentrate on those yet to fulfil their potential.

That is code to look for three-year-olds and, with the St Leger favourite Scandinavia I think more likely to stay in Britain and Ireland, it might pay to look at those who are less obvious.

Aftermath is among them. Why has Aidan O’Brien entered the son of Justify, who hasn’t even run this season and was last seen winning over seven furlongs at the Curragh in September last year?

It’s hard to believe that the Champagne Stakes third could end up being a legitimate contender, but, if O’Brien thinks he can, then who are we to question the great trainer?

Mount Kilimanjaro may prove the more likely Ballydoyle contender. The Dee Stakes winner looked to be feeling the ground when beaten in the Great Voltigeur at York on his most recent outing and didn’t get the cleanest of runs through. He is better than that, especially granted more cut in the ground.

Furthur has caught the eye of Graeme RodwayCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

However, maybe the most interesting three-year-old entry comes from Andrew Balding’s stable. Furthur finished ahead of Scandinavia in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and bounced back from a poor run behind him at Newmarket to win the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes in commanding fashion.

Balding has never won the Melbourne Cup, but he did land a notable success in Australia early in his career when Side Glance won the 2013 Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington, and it will be fascinating to see whether the Kingsclere trainer sends Furthur. That would be a tip in itself.

Read more . . .

Aidan O'Brien: 'There's every chance Scandinavia and Lambourn will run against each other in the Leger' 

Al Riffa could be handed Melbourne Cup option - plus Royal Ascot star True Love follows up with five-length thrashing of colts  

Aidan O'Brien: Christophe Soumillon to play a major role for Ballydoyle this autumn in Ryan Moore's injury absence 

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