“GREAT nominations. Great in quality, great in number. It’s hard to believe we are 91 days out from the Lexus Melbourne Cup and today is another step in the road to the Cup,” said Victoria Racing Club chief executive Steve Rosich after the release of nominations for the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate on Tuesday.

“It is heartening to see entries at record levels for the Melbourne Cup and to see international entries return to pre-pandemic levels.

“The spread of international entries is fantastic with 56 horses from England, Ireland, France and Germany, as is the number of European trainers who have entered horses for the very first time,” added Racing Victoria general manager Paul Bloodworth with those 56 horses nominated 87 times.

At the close of entries at noon on Tuesday, the Melbourne Cup had received 186 nominations, 56 of which were bred in Ireland and 43 of which are internationals.

The Caulfield Cup’s 169 entries include 32 international entries and the Cox Plate has 135 entries, 12 of which are internationals. This impressive list is headlined by last year’s winner State Of Rest.

No scans

Aidan O’Brien, Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor, absent in 2021, have a number of nominations, with Racing Victoria’s demand for all international travellers to undergo scintigraphy, a veterinary process utilising radioactive dye to find any bone issues, no longer a compulsory requirement of travel.

The nominations however do not include any horses from Japan. The Ballydoyle potential runners are Point Lonsdale, Aikhal, Stone Age, Changingoftheguard, United Nations and Waterville.

A further appetiser for internationals is the rebranding of the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival to Champions Stakes Day with the three Group 1 races on offer, the 1,200-metre Darley Champions Sprint, the 1,600-metre Kennedy Champions Mile and the 2,000-metre VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes), all boosted to $3 million bringing the day’s prize pool to $10 million. A point not lost on the VRC’s general manager of racing Leigh Jordon.

“The four days (of the Melbourne Cup carnival) now has grown to $34 million in prizemoney and bonuses, which is incredible.”