With nominations for the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups released earlier today here are some of the key facts and figures from the list of nominations for the two feature races.
Caulfield and Melbourne Cup Entries
* 140 Melbourne Cup nominations, including 31 northern hemisphere-trained horses
* 142 nominations for the Caulfield Cup, 22 northern hemisphere-trained
* total of 33 northern hemisphere horses entered across the two Cups, from 20 stables
* Entries from seven countries outside Australia for the Cups
* Overseas entries from Japan, France, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand
Caulfield and Melbourne Cup Key Nominations
* Premier Victorian trainer Darren Weir has 20 Caulfield Cup nominations and 17 in Melbourne Cup
* Godolphin’s new head trainer in Australia, James Cummings, has three Cups entries headlined by Hartnell
* Godolphin English trainer Charlie Appleby has four Melbourne Cup nominations, with Francis Of Assisi and Kidmenever also entered for Caulfield Cup.
* Four Melbourne Cup nominations for Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor, three of those dual Cups entries
* Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Almandin is among 12 Robert Hickmott-trained nominations for owner Lloyd Williams
* Ebor Handicap winner Nakeeta, prepared by Iain Jardine, is the first Scottish-trained Melbourne Cup entry
* Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has three in Melbourne Cup contention and two Caulfield Cup entries, with Order Of St George only entered for Flemington
* O’Brien’s son Joseph has Rekindling nominated for both races
* 10 starters from last year’s Melbourne Cup are nominated again