AS well as a Cox Plate runner, Aidan O’Brien may also have a Melbourne Cup starter this spring, reports Racing Network.
Kingfisher, a northern hemisphere three-year-old, is expected to join O’Brien’s Cox Plate contender Adelaide in quarantine later this month.
James Bester, the Australian racing manager for Coolmore, confirmed today that Kingfisher, who was entered for the Caulfield Cup as well as the Melbourne Cup, had been booked for Melbourne.
Kingfisher, a son of Gailileo, is a winner of two races, including a Listed Race at Chester.
The colt also ran second behind Australia in the Irish Derby. He received 50kg in the Caulfield Cup.
Kingfisher holds a nomination for the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday as well as the UK St Leger at Doncaster.
Bester confirmed that Adelaide would run in the Group 2 Prix Niel (2400 m) at Longchamp on Sunday.
“It has been a while since he ran and Aidan feels that he needs a race between his last race and the Cox Plate,” Bester said.
Bester said Adelaide and Kingfisher would enter quarantine on September 25 and arrive in Melbourne on October 10. Both horses would come out of quarantine on Cox Plate morning.