British & Irish-Trained Runners In Melbourne Cup 2025

There are a whopping 120 entries for the 2025 Melbourne Cup, which takes place at Flemington racecourse on November 4 and amongst the bumper list of potential runners in the ‘race that stops a nation’ are some top quality British & Irish-trained stayers that could look to etch their name on the illustrious roll of honour.

In the last ten years there have been three horses trained in the Britain and Ireland that have reigned supreme Down Under with Joseph O’Brien’s pair of Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020) claiming victory, while Charlie Appleby’s Cross Counter bounded to victory in the 2018 contest.

Now, the next batch of stars from these shores are ready to bid for a career-definining win and one of the star performers could be Al Riffa, who will be aiming to hand the aforementioned O’Brien a third win in the race. Due to line up in the Irish St Leger before heading into quarantine, Al Riffa has been purchased by a two-times Melbourne Cup-winning ownership and the classy performer is very prominent in the latest betting.

Aidan O’Brien is looking to follow in his son’s Joseph’s footsteps and claim a first Melbourne Cup crown and the master of Ballydoyle could send over star three-year-old stayer Scandinavia. Hugely progressive this season, Scandinavia is a red-hot favourite to win the St Leger at Doncaster next weekend and could well then be primed at a bid at Australia’s biggest race. Mount Kilimanjaro and Aftermath are another brace of runners that could take their chance for O’Brien’s team.

Willie Mullins has failed in his quest to claim victory in the Melbourne Cup and watched his star Cheltenham Festival winner Vauban falter in the big stage, but he could saddle Hipop De Loire, who was last seen being beaten in the Ebor Handicap. Fifth behind Knight’s Choice in last year’s race, Absurde could bid for a second crack at the race and will certainly benefit from that experience from last year.

Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle for the legendary Irishman Dermot Weld and he could send over a dual-pronged attack in Duraji and Harbour Wind, while Andrew Balding’s Furthur, David O’Meara’s Epic Poet and Brian Ellisson’s Onesmoothoperator could be some of the leading British-trained runners lining up.

British and Irish-trained entries in Melbourne Cup