THE road to the 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup is officially underway, with the Victoria Racing Club announcing 120 nominations for the Group 1 $10 million Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday, November 4th. Nine of those nominations are from Irish trainers.

Two-time Lexus Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Joseph O’Brien has nominated two horses, led by the now Australian-owned Al Riffa who will be following in the footsteps of Lexus Melbourne Cup winners Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020). The J.P. McManus-owned Goodie Two Shoes is the trainer’s second nomination.

Meanwhile Joseph’s father Aidan, who is yet to win a Melbourne Cup, holds three nominations with Aftermath, Mount Kilimanjaro and current St Leger favourite Scandinavia.

Fellow Irish trainer, Willie Mullins has signalled his intention to travel to Flemington for the third consecutive year with Absurde and Hipop De Loire, and Dermot Weld completes the line-up of trainers hoping to take the Melbourne Cup back to Irish soil, with Duraji and Harbour Wind.