Trainer Willie Mullins eyes Melbourne Cup success with former hurdler Wicklow Brave

IRISH stayer Wicklow Brave is reviving memories of the legendary Vintage Crop before the $6.2m Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.

THE ageing gelding is a former jumper trained by a canny Irishman and is here to win the Melbourne Cup.

Sound familiar? It should because Wicklow Brave is reviving memories of the legendary Vintage Crop ahead of the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.

Vintage Crop first made his name as a hurdler before his Irish trainer Dermot Weld switched the gelding to flat racing and pulled off a famous Cup win in 1993 to usher in the internationalisation of Australia’s great race.

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More than two decades later, another Irish trainer Willie Mullins is planning a similar coup with the eight-year-old Wicklow Brave.

Mullins and champion jockey Frankie Dettori nearly pulled it off with Max Dynamite in the Melbourne Cup last year, only for that horse to finish a luckless second to Prince Of Penzance.

Both men are returning Down Under this weekend determined to get it right this time.

Wicklow Brave has impressed trackwatchers with his work at Werribee. Picture: Colleen Petch.

There are potentially 10 overseas-trained stayers being prepared for next week’s Melbourne Cup at the Werribee training facility but none are working better than Wicklow Brave.

“Wicklow Brave is in good form,’’ said David Casey, the travelling foreman for the Mullins stable. “Most of our strong work is done now but we will have a couple of ‘blows’ before the race to keep him ticking over right.

“We are just trying to get a clear run between now and next Tuesday and hoping everything stays in one piece.’’

Wicklow Brave’s form has been so impressive in Ireland and England during the northern hemisphere summer and again at Werribee trackwork that it is hard to believe the gelding began as a hurdler.

“He started off as a jumper but in Ireland we do tend to mix and match (jumps and flat racing),’’ Casey said. “A lot of our jumpers are ex-flat horses but Wicklow Brave always showed plenty of pace and we thought he would do well on the flat.

“He has always shown ability but he has got to a high level on the flat very quickly.’’

Wicklow Brave competed exclusively as a jumper throughout 2014 and into last year, winning at Group 3 and Listed level over the fences and competing in Group 1 jumps.

Mullins switched Wicklow Brave to flat racing last year. The gelding showed staying promise with a second placing in the Ebor Handicap and a third in the Irish St Leger.

This year, Mullins has concentrated on the flat with Wicklow Brave, who has made the necessary progression to now be rated one of the leading chances in the Melbourne Cup.

Wicklow Brave’s form had steadily improved before his career-best last-start win in the Irish St Leger, when he defeated Order Of St George and Trip To Paris.

Casey travelled with Max Dynamite last year and is back with Wicklow Brave.

Wicklow Brave, left, has good form around one-time Melbourne Cuop favourite Order Of St George this season.

Asked to compare the two stayers, Casey said Wicklow Brave is following the same type of work as Max Dynamite but: “Wicklow Brave is probably a sharper type of horse to Max Dynamite. I don’t know if it is confidence but we do have an expectation that he will run a good race as his form is standing up.

“He was just behind Big Orange in the Goodwood Cup and we think he is better than he was that day. He showed that in (winning) the Irish St Leger.’’

In consultation with Mullins, Casey is leaving no stone unturned with Wicklow Brave’s Cup preparation, even giving the stayer some barrier practice at trackwork.

“On the odd day he can be a bit slow away — it is just him, he is a jumper,’’ Casey said.