Dermot Weld intends to be back for a crack at winning his third Melbourne Cup when Australia's iconic horse race is run for the 150th time on November 2.Weld played his part in helping make the Melbourne Cup international when he became the first northern hemisphere trainer to win the race with Vintage Crop in 1993.The only European trainer to win the race, the Irishman won it for a second time with Media Puzzle in 2002.Weld, who has also had placings with Vintage Crop, third in 1995, and Vinnie

Dermot Weld intends to be back for a crack at winning his third Melbourne Cup when Australia's iconic horse race is run for the 150th time on November 2.

Weld played his part in helping make the Melbourne Cup international when he became the first northern hemisphere trainer to win the race with Vintage Crop in 1993.

The only European trainer to win the race, the Irishman won it for a second time with Media Puzzle in 2002.

Weld, who has also had placings with Vintage Crop, third in 1995, and Vinnie Roe, runner-up to Makybe Diva in 2004, is looking at running Profound Beauty in her second Melbourne Cup.

Profound Beauty finished fifth to Viewed in 2008 and Weld and owner Walter Haefner, who turns 100 in September, are keen for the mare to run in the Cup again.

Weld named stablemate Casual Conquest, third in the 2008 English Derby and runner-up in the Irish Derby, as a possible Cup starter.

"I've got a nice horse called Casual Conquest. He was a Group One horse last year, he's rated 121," he said.

"He's a nice horse and he's a possibility because I believe you need a high-rated horse to win this year's Melbourne Cup."

Weld and the now-retired champion Irish jockey Mick Kinane, who rode Vintage Crop to victory in the Cup, were at Flemington on Tuesday as guests of the Victoria Racing Club which launched a calendar of events to celebrate the Melbourne Cup anniversary.

Weld has great admiration for Vintage Crop.

"He was a stayer with speed, that sums it up," Weld said.

"It was a huge challenge in those days because it was the first time it had been done and we had a lot to overcome.

"It was one of those special days. It's been an amazing race because that internationalised the Melbourne Cup.

"But then when I won it with Media Puzzle, for a different reason with Damien Oliver and the loss of his brother which brought a lot of trauma to the race, that was one of the special days of my training career."

Owner Lloyd Williams, whose thirst for Melbourne Cup victories is yet to be quenched despite three wins, will target this year's race with 2007 winner Efficient and one of his recent overseas purchases, Alandi.

Williams said Irish St Leger and Prix Du Cadran winner Alandi arrived in Australia in late December and could have one run before a spring campaign.

"We've got to put some speed in his legs," Williams said.

"He's by Galileo, he's not very big."

Also in attendance was Japanese trainer Katsuhiko Sumii who took home the quinella with Delta Blues and Pop Rock in 2006, as well as Australia's Singapore-based 1985 Cup-winning trainer John Meagher.

Others at the launch included Delta Blues' rider Yasunari Iwata and local Cup-winning jockeys Damien Oliver, Michael Rodd, Glen Boss, Steven King, Pat Hyland, Jim Johnson and Midge Didham.