A great angle when thinking about Melbourne Cup bets is to look at the top trainers. Recently, we looked at the Cup chances of top Aussie trainers Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher and James Cummings. Now, we’re looking further afield.
Certain top trainers from the UK and Ireland are desperately keen to win the Melbourne Cup. The top two in the business in that territory are Charlie Appleby and Aidan O’Brien, though they are far from certain to shup. The same can be said of Aidan’s two-time Cup winning son Joseph.
William Haggas is seasoned when it comes to sending his talent to Australia. James Ferguson has also been responsible for a well-backed Melbourne Cup favourite.
We’re looking at three other yards however, beginning with an Irish jump racing legend.
Willie Mullins
Willie Mullins is by far the most successful National Hunt trainer of all time. He has won countless Cheltenham Festival races, including with a certain Vauban who was so well backed for last year’s Melbourne Cup.
Mullins in fact brought both Vauban and Absurde to the Cup in November. The latter in fact fared best with a seventh-place finish.
One or both of those geldings could return this year. Though a long-term plan will be drawn out in the privacy of Mullins’ yard in Ireland, a good guide would be seeing which horses he decides to run on the flat from May onwards.
Vauban was a winner at Royal Ascot in June and he will likely target that meeting again. Runners at York would be interesting too, as would any contenders in the Irish St Leger in September.
Simon & Ed Crisford
The Crisfords too have already tasted relative success in Australia. The father and son team had trained Without A Fight before he went to the Freedmans and won the 2023 renewal. They also train narrow Caulfield Cup runner-up West Wind Blows.
The latter horse could be the one they target at the Melbourne Cup this year. Proper two-mile stayers may be hard to come by, but horses trained by the Crisfords to a good level winning over 2400m or so will come into the Melbourne Cup reckoning for sure.
Once again, look out for strong performances at Ascot, Goodwood and York. The St Leger Festival at Doncaster is also a good pointer.
Roger Varian
In Newmarket there is so much talent. Appleby and Haggas have already been mentioned, while there is also the John & Thady Gosden team among others.
Roger Varian is at the same level as that elite bunch. With the likes of St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov, Varian has proven he can train top stayers.
A multiple Group 1 winner, Varian is all class and is most certainly capable of planning a Melbourne Cup raid. Watch out for his results at all the top English meetings from May onwards.
