Aidan O’Brien stars Anthony Van Dyck and Tiger Moth are first and second favourites for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington
- There are eight European-trained horses in the 24-runner line-up
- Anthony Van Dyck, who won last year’s Derby, is a 7-1 shot with Ladbrokes
- Sharing favouritism at 13-2 is Irish Derby runner-up Tiger Moth and Sir Dragonet
Aidan O’Brien-trained horses past and present dominate the betting for the Melbourne Cup which will be run behind-closed-doors at Flemington racecourse in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Anthony Van Dyck, who won last year’s Derby, is a 7-1 shot with Ladbrokes after being beaten a head by Verry Elleegant in last month’s Caulfield Cup.
But sharing favouritism at 13-2 is O’Brien’s Irish Derby runner-up Tiger Moth, who is ridden by ex-Godolphin jockey Kerrin McEvoy, and Sir Dragonet, the colt O’Brien trained to win the 2019 Chester Vase.
Aidan O’Brien aims to break his duck in the famous race in the early hours of Tuesday
Sir Dragonet is now trained Down Under by the partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, son of Newmarket trainer James Eustace. He won the Cox Plate last month on his first start in Australia,
There are eight European-trained horses in the 24-runner line-up. They include Joseph O’Brien’s Master of Reality, who passed the post in second last before being demoted to fourth, and Charlie Fellowes-trained Prince of Arran, who was third in 2018 and second last year.
Willie Mullins-trained Stratum Albion, second in the Lonsdale Stakes at York in August, carries the colours of Tony Bloom, chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Meanwhile, Cyrname ‘opened a lot of doors’, in the view of trainer Paul Nicholls after his comfortable win in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday. It was the eight-year-old’s first win at three miles and on a left-handed track.
Cyrname heads straight to the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day but after that could be a shot at the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Nicholls said: ‘Horses who win the Charlie Hall win Gold Cups, we’ve proved that with See More Business. I don’t see any reason why Cyrname won’t get that trip because round there he’ll travel and keep filling his lungs down the hill.’
