Will Hulbert has Melbourne Cup dream for ex-Ciaron Maher import Dillian

European import Dillian is unbeaten since moving to Queensland from Victoria, and trainer Will Hulbert will set his sights on the Melbourne Cup if he can win again at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

“He is bouncing around like a prize fighter, with belts hanging off his shoulders.”

So quips Brisbane trainer Will Hulbert about the refreshed confidence of one-time European import Dillian, who has put two thumping wins on the board since the stayer arrived in Brisbane.

Irish-bred Dillian started his racing journey in Europe before being sent to Ciaron Maher in Victoria who couldn’t get a win out of him.

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His owners sent him north for a change of scenery and it has paid dividends so far with Will Hulbert and his dad Peter training him to a pair of confidence boosting wins.

Dillian now steps up to the big league to tackle the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) which will be raced at Eagle Farm on Saturday and has been rebadged from being previously raced as the Premier’s Cup.

Dillian is a $10 chance but Will Hulbert is convinced he can give the race a mighty shake and then he could even dare to dream of a fairytale Melbourne Cup mission in the spring.

Dillian does the punters proud, dominating Race 2 at Eagle Farm! @HulbertRacingpic.twitter.com/8zu1NBMwAu

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 26, 2025

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“The confidence he has taken from his first (Brisbane) win to his second win, and even since then, is amazing,” Hulbert said of the six-year-old gelded son of Camelot.

“He is bouncing around like a prize fighter with belts hanging off his shoulders.

“He thinks he is the man.

“We are dreaming about winning a Melbourne Cup, although you don’t really think someone from Brisbane can do it.

“But it would definitely start to come on the radar if he won well on Saturday and then went to the Brisbane Cup (3200m) and performed there too.

“They did it last year with (Queenslander) Knight’s Choice last year, didn’t they?”

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Hulbert revealed how jockey Martin Harley, a former Irishman, had extreme confidence in Dillian.

Harley had originally planned to ride him a kilogram over, at 55kg, on Saturday.

But after partnering him in an impressive gallop last Saturday, Harley vowed he would get down to 54.5kg (half a kilogram over) for Saturday’s assignment.

Will Hulbert will target the Melbourne Cup if import Dillian can win at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Picture: Trackside Photography

“Martin is over the moon with him and he doesn’t ride at 54.5kg very often,” Hulbert said.

“This horse was an import, the owners paid a bit of money for him and a few others.

“He wasn’t quite measuring up in Melbourne, so they thought they would send him up to Queensland to earn some prizemoney.

“We started him in a low grade race first-up and he got confidence out of that and took that into his next start where he beat better horses.

“He is just a natural stayer, with a stayers like him you don’t have to waste three or four runs getting him fit and getting to a certain distance.”

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Meanwhile, Hulbert is tipping a vastly improved performance from two-year-old colt Thee Creek in Saturday’s $1m BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).

Thee Creek is an $81 chance in the Sires’ after being beaten six length in the Spirit Of Boom Classic but Hulbert said the colt hated the heavy Doomben surface that day.

“He couldn’t pick his feet up in the race the other day, his stride length was 50cm shorter than normal,” Hulbert said.

“He just couldn’t stretch out in the testing ground and he is a much better horse than that.

“He couldn’t handle the heavy at Doomben, it was quite bottomless and he couldn’t really get though it.”

Originally published as Will Hulbert has Melbourne Cup dream for ex-Ciaron Maher import Dillian