French stayer Brigantin will run in the 2400m Geelong Cup at his first start in Australia. Racing Victoria's international recruitment consultant, Leigh Jordon, says Brigantin's trainer Andre Fabre wanted the 6YO to be entered for the Geelong race onn Oct 24. He says: "Andre is keen for star young jockey Mickael Barzalona to ride Brigantin in his lead-up to the Melbourne Cup and he was not available on Caulfield Cup day...The French have made the Geelong Cup their own in recent years and it

French stayer Brigantin will run in the 2400m Geelong Cup at his first start in Australia. Racing Victoria's international recruitment consultant, Leigh Jordon, says Brigantin's trainer Andre Fabre wanted the 6YO to be entered for the Geelong race onn Oct 24. He says: "Andre is keen for star young jockey Mickael Barzalona to ride Brigantin in his lead-up to the Melbourne Cup and he was not available on Caulfield Cup day...The French have made the Geelong Cup their own in recent years and it will be a great coup for the Club to have Barzalona make his Australian debut at their feature meeting." Barzalona won the 2011 Epsom Derby on Pour Moi and this year has added the Dubai World Cup, as well as denying Camelot the triple crown in the English Set Leger last month, when guiding Encke to victory for Godolphin for whom he is a retained rider. The Geelong Cup has been a happy hunting ground in recent years for French trained horses, with Americain winning the race in 2010 and Dunaden last year. Both horses then went on to win the Melbourne Cup at their next starts. Media Puzzle won the Cup in 2002 and went on to score in the Melbourne Cup.

Cranbourne based Mick Kent was at Werribee to oversee the preparation of his French recruit Tac de Boistron. Tac de Boistron has done very little in the way of travelling prior to coming to Australia and Kent said he had taken a little while to recover from the journey but is now bouncing back well. ''He's not a seasoned traveller like some of the others and he lost ten kilograms on the trip down here but has settled in well and has put seven kilos back on, so we are on the way with him,'' Kent said. Tac de Boistron's main target is the Melbourne Cup, with Kent at this stage unsure whether he will use the Caulfield or Geelong Cup as a lead-up. ''He prefers softer tracks and the Geelong track has been well watered for Cup day in recent years, while Caulfield can tend to get a bit firm, so that will probably end up being the deciding factor in where he goes.''