Watch: Hopewell Rock emerges as Melbourne Cup contender

If you watched ‘Glorious Goodwood’ you will by now be well acquainted with the peacock blue and old gold racing silks of Wathnan Racing, who came away from the showpiece carnival with seven winners, giving them the ‘Leading Owner of the Carnival’ title.

If you didn’t watch Goodwood, make a note of the name as, importantly for local racing, Wathnan could soon be lining up their first sortie into Australia.

Hopewell Bay strikes in the opener at Goodwood! pic.twitter.com/E2OHmbFlTA

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 1, 2026

The ‘Magnificent Seven’ domination by Wathnan Racing, who is owned by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, was highlighted by feature race victories by Archivist (in the Golden Mile) and Evening Saigon (in the Stewards’ Cup) … both trained by Hamad Al Jehani).

Other winners included Hopewell Rock (Summer Handicap), Flora Of Bermuda (Rolls Royce Oak Tree Stakes), Exclusive Code, Silver Lake and Wild Blossom.

A post on the Wathnan Racing website post-race indicated that … ‘The George Boughey-trained Hopewell Rock may well now be considered for international staying targets after his conniving win under Ryan Moore.’

Wathnan’s Richard Brown, put that future option in further context.

“Ryan (Moore] was pretty complimentary … maybe we will start travelling with him (Hopewell Rock) later in the year. I think Australia could well come into the equation. He (Moore) felt a Melbourne Cup might really suit him.

“It would be an exciting project for us. We haven’t done it before and Wathnan has not had any runners in Australia yet.

“There are a couple of horses that have been on our radar to do that with, potentially Map Of Stars in the Cox Plate.

“It is really exciting and it is what this operation is about – having horses competing on the international stage.”

Hopewell Rock is now expected to target the Ebor Handicap at York on August 22, which would be a key stepping stone and a point of ‘Golden Ticket’ qualification for the Melbourne Cup, if that path is to be followed.

Map Of Stars, who is trained by Francis-Henri Graffard in France, has already gained a Golden Ticket admission to the Spring Carnival in Australia with his win in Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot in July, where he was ridden by James McDonald, giving him a ballot-free entry into the Caulfield Cup.