NEXT year's Melbourne Cup looks poised to have even more of an international flavour with the race's key recruiter announcing that the first four past the post in Sunday's Japan Cup would be targeted for the spring of 2012, reports The Age. It says: And Australia's international talent scout, Leigh Jordon, said yesterday that quarantine conditions in Australia were not the reason Japanese competitors had not been coming in recent years. He maintained the sticking point had been the prohibitive c
NEXT year's Melbourne Cup looks poised to have even more of an international flavour with the race's key recruiter announcing that the first four past the post in Sunday's Japan Cup would be targeted for the spring of 2012, reports The Age.
It says: And Australia's international talent scout, Leigh Jordon, said yesterday that quarantine conditions in Australia were not the reason Japanese competitors had not been coming in recent years. He maintained the sticking point had been the prohibitive cost of travel to Melbourne in the spring.
After talks with transport airlines working out of Japan Jordon was confident an easier and cheaper route would be achieved.
''They have some very exciting stayers in Japan and the problem has been the complex and highly expensive journey that they have to take to get out here. But we are talking to the relevant bodies and we are hopeful that we can work out the problem,'' he said. ''In fact last year Trailblazer, who finished fourth on Sunday, was coming to Australia for the Melbourne Cup but he wasn't qualified for the Cup so plans were scrapped just before he left home.''