European Trainers Aiming Talented Stayers at the 2025 Melbourne Cup

Trainer Joseph O’Brien will attempt to win the Melbourne Cup for the third time this year with talented stayer Al Riffa.

The five-year-old was recently purchased by Australian Bloodstock following his eye-catching five-length success in the Group 2 Curragh Cup last month.

O’Brien previously won ‘the race that stops the nation’ with Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020) and will bid to scoop the prize again this year.

Australian Bloodstock director Jamie Lovett says Al Riffa will embark on an ambitious international campaign after running in the Irish St Leger in September.

“We wanted a horse that could come down and not just be competitive, but be good enough to win a Melbourne Cup,” Lovett told ANZ News.

“The fact that his last start win was his first time beyond a mile and a half at the Curragh last start, so he has clearly ticked that box, he couldn’t have been more impressive.

“He’s staying with Joseph and will likely head to Hong Kong and hopefully on to World Cup night in Dubai.

“That was a big tick for our owners because that was the brief – to find us a horse that we could travel abroad with.”

Australian Bloodstock has previously enjoyed success in the Melbourne Cup with European imports with Protectionist (2014) and Gold Trip (2022).

They will also be represented by Vauban this year, who had two unsuccessful attempts to win the race when trained by Willie Mullins.

After finishing a well-beaten third in the Curragh Cup last season, Vauban claimed 11th place in the Melbourne Cup. He was subsequently sold to Australian Bloodstock.

Al Riffa has shown a higher level of form for the O’Brien stable and Lovett believes his profile is ideally suited to the Melbourne Cup.

“There’s obviously plenty of filters, and historically buying horses at the top of the weights for a big handicap can be flawed,” Lovett added.

“But I think Gold Trip taught me that class carries you a long way and this horse is obviously a very, very good horse.

“He is a Group 1 winner in Germany but, more importantly, he has form behind Rebel’s Romance. In my mind, I don’t think we’ve found the ceiling with this horse.

“I think Joseph made a similar comment that he’s still a horse on the up – he’s not heavily taxed.

“He’s only had 14 starts, and I just feel he was the right horse for the brief that we had to go and purchase.

“There’s a few local owners coming into the horse, but the majority of the horse was purchased by European clients and some clients in Dubai.” 

Al Riffa is a best-priced 16/1 in the Melbourne Cup betting, and those odds could tumble if he claims victory in the Irish St Leger at the Curragh.

He will not be the only European trained runner in the race, with Flatten The Curve set to head to Australia following his recent victory at Kentucky Downs.

German trainer Henk Grewe confirmed the six-year-old will be aimed at the Melbourne Cup after he roared home in the Gold Cup Invitational.

The French-bred horse is rated as a 25/1 shot on the sportsbooks listed on comparison platform AustralianBettingSites to emerge victorious at Flemington Racecourse. Grewe believes he could run a big race.

“He’s an unbelievable horse,” Grewe said. “He came to our stable last year and since then the only time he lost was in Saratoga when they changed it to the dirt.

“He was really relaxed because the pace was good. We wanted to follow the favourite (Limited Liability) with Frankie Dettori. We had the perfect race.

“In the stretch it was so easy, it was perfect. Very proud. It was my first win outside of Europe. It’s something special for me. I think we go now to the Melbourne Cup.”

While O’Brien and Grewe are dreaming about winning at Flemington, Mullins has confirmed that recent Ebor Handicap winner Ethical Diamond will swerve the race. 

His victory at York guaranteed him a spot in the Melbourne Cup, but he would be unlikely to pass strict veterinary checks due to previous injuries.