Van Percy has been likened to Bauer, who came within a nose of winning the 2008 Melbourne Cup, by part-owners OTI Racing after the four-year-old arrived in Australia for a spring campaign, reports Peter Scargill in the Racing Post UK.
Trained by Andrew Balding, Van Percy has notched three victories this season from six starts and also finished a close second to Mutual Regard in the Ebor last month.
That consistency has earned Van Percy a glowing tribute from Simon O'Donnell, a director at OTI Racing, who came within a whisker of landing the Melbourne Cup with the Luca Cumani-trained grey Bauer.
"He's probably our modern day Bauer, just a different colour," he said. "He is a very similar horse to him. Maybe a touch bigger, but he is one of those stayers that is gallant and rarely runs a bad race and always puts in.
"Every time he steps out you know what you are going to get. He's come here in good form and we're hopeful of him running well."
The Geelong Cup on October 22 is likely to be part of Van Percy's Melbourne Cup preparation and O'Donnell added in the Geelong Advertiser: "A Geelong Cup could well be on his agenda pending where his first start in Australia is. A few things need to fall into place first before we make any final arrangements.
"He seemed to have arrived fine. He didn't lose anywhere near the weight they expected him to lose."
Van Percy is a 33-1 chance to win the Emirates Melbourne Cup on November 4.