Young trainer’s four-pronged Cup attack on Melbourne Cup

Trainer Joseph O’Brien will arrive in Australia today to finalise preparations for his four-pronged attack on the Melbourne Cup

Joseph O’Brien’s Twilight Payment, Latrobe and Master Of Reality work at Werribee.

Record breaking trainer Joseph O’Brien will arrive in Australia on Monday to finalise preparations for his four-pronged attack on the Melbourne Cup fresh from tasting success in the US.

The Irishman became the youngest trainer to prepare a Melbourne Cup winner when Rekindling was successful with Corey Brown aboard in 2017.

The 26-year-old became only the second man to ride and then train a winner at the Breeders Cup meeting, which was held at Santa Anita in California over the weekend.

O’Brien, who became the youngest jockey to win a Breeders Cup race on St Nicholas Abbey in 2011, trained Iridessa to a victory on Saturday in the fillies and mares turf classic.

“It is unbelievable. I’ve always got a much greater kick training a winner than riding a winner since I started training,” he said.

“It is a dream, really. I’ve had a handful of Breeders’ Cup runners, but for this to happen, it’s very special and it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

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O’Brien, son of veteran Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, faces a challenge to claim a second Melbourne Cup in three years despite having more runners in the race than any other trainer.

Downdraft, which was an impressive winner of the Hotham Handicap on Saturday, is the shortest-priced runner of his quartet at $21. Master Of Reality, which will be ridden by international star Frankie Dettori, and Latrobe, which will have James McDonald aboard, are listed at $26 by the TAB.

Downdraft travelled well for @JohnnyA_24 and gives Joseph O'Brien four runners in the #MelbourneCup. @DrinkWiseAus pic.twitter.com/KF3bPXWqre

— Racing.com (@Racing) November 2, 2019

Hugh Bowman’s mount Twilight Payment is listed as a $51 chance after drawing barrier 19, but O’Brien’s assistant trainer Mark Power said little separated the four hopes.

“(Twilight Payment) has gone under the radar a little bit. His form is as good as anything back at home,” he said.

“He did miss a day or two when he first arrived over here … but he is good and well and his work has been brilliant ever since.”

Master Of Reality is Power’s preference but he concedes Dettori, who is seeking his first Melbourne Cup, will need luck from the inside barrier.

“It might not be ideal,” Power told RSN 927. “It will probably go forward and we would like to hope that he will get away well enough and get a chance to go forward.

“Maybe we would have preferred to have been drawn a little wider so that we won’t get boxed in at the start but we probably have the right man on his back to give him every chance of getting out.”

Bowman picked up the ride on Twilight Payment after the 2018 runner-up Marmelo on Wednesday controversially ordered the horse’s withdrawal, saying CT scans showed he was unfit to run.

The belated nature of the booking, combined with a busy Derby day at Flemington on Saturday, means Bowman has some homework to do on his mount between now and the Cup.

“I know he’s owned by Team Williams and trained by Joseph O’Brien, so that’s a good starting point,” Bowman said.

“And it would be nice to win it.”

Charlie Appleby, the trainer of reigning Melbourne Cup winner Cross Counter, will also arrive in Australia to finalise the preparation of the star stayer. The Godolphin trainer was among those in California on the weekend.

Although Old Persian, which was ridden by Cross Counter’s jockey William Buick, was beaten in the Breeders Cup, the Appleby camp has confidence in Cross Counter.

The five-year-old gelding is seeking to become the first horse to claim back-to-back Melbourne Cups since three-time winner Makybe Diva between 2003 and 2005.

The Teofila-Waitress horse also won the Dubai Gold Cup in March. It ran fourth in the Ascot Gold Cup behind Stradivarius in June, third behind the same galloper at Goodwood in July and then fourth in the Irish St Leger at its most recent start.

Joao Moreira, who received clearance from the Hong Kong Jockey Club to ride Melbourne Cup second favourite Constantinople, rode a winner at Sha Tin on Sunday.

David Hayes, who co-trains the imported stayer with son Ben and Tom Dabernig, is seeking to claim the $7.75 million race 25 years after Jeune was successful in 1994 before relocating to Hong Kong.

Charlie Fellowes, who trains Geelong Cup winner Prince Of Arran, said last year’s third placegetter was in good order.

He believes the barrier draw of eight is ideal and feels the seven-year-old has thrived in Australia once again.

“He has had a very different preparation this year to last year. Hopefully that is a good thing,” he said. “He seems to be peaking at the right time and he looks a picture. It is all systems go.”