JOSEPH O’Brien will aim to break new ground in Australia over the next six weeks with his five-strong team settling in Canterbury training centre in Sydney.

O’Brien has won two Melbourne Cups and a Cox Plate but has never had a runner in Sydney, where the lucrative autumn racing carnival is about to begin at premier tracks Rosehill and Randwick.

Cleveland, Baron Samedi, Temple Of Artemis, Raise You and Statement all have various targets that include the A$5 million Queen Elizabeth, A$2 million Sydney Cup and A$1 million Queen of the Turf Stakes.

“They all seem to have settled in well,” O’Brien told The Irish Field. “They’ve only been out there a few days but everything has gone well so far. We’ve four lads down there with them - Sean Corby, Chrissy Thompson, M.J. Doran and Shay Barry.

“We’re looking at the Randwick Stakes for Raise You, as lead up to potentially the Queen Elizabeth or Sydney Cup, depending on how he trains over the next few weeks.

“Cleveland would have a similar enough programme. Baron Samedi has an option of the Tancred Stakes and then the Sydney Cup, or just go straight to the Sydney Cup.

“Temple Of Artemis will probably run in a race called the Chairman’s Handicap which is a week before the Sydney Cup; it’s a win-and-you’re-in race. Statement will probably go straight to the Coolmore Legacy Stakes.

“It’s a huge racing festival there for the next month or so, there’s great prize money, very competitive races and it’s a privilege to be involved.”

The Sydney Cup is run over two miles and takes place on the second of the two-day The Championships meeting at Randwick on April 8th. Cleveland is the shortest priced of O’Brien’s runners at 12/1 with Bet365 Australia while Raise You is a 14/1 shot.

Guineas entry

With the flat turf season back in action this month, O’Brien also had an update on Al Riffa, the Group 1 National Stakes winner.

“He has done well over the winter. He has the Irish Guineas as his early season target. It remains to be seen whether we have a trial run or go straight there. That will be decided at a later date.

“He does have an option of going to France as well and he has an option of going to Newmarket but that’s probably the least likely.”