The Melbourne Racing Club has received 124 nominations for its showpiece race, the Caulfield Cup.
The Group 1 handicap which has been boosted to $6 million this year, will be run over 2400m on October 17.
Of the 124 entries, there are 32 international entries representing trainers from Ireland, England and France.
This year’s international entry is up on the 12 the MRC received last year, but the overall number is down on the 147 from last year while in 2024 there was 173 overall entries with 36 from overseas.
This year’s entry closed two weeks later than last year.
Dual Melbourne Cup winning trainer Joseph O’Brien has the strongest entry of the international trainers with 15 of the 20 Irish entries, that also sees his father, Aidan, with one nomination, while Willie Mullins has three and Emmet Mullins one.
Goodie Two Shoes, runner-up to Half Yours in last year’s Melbourne Cup, features among Joseph O’Briens entries for the Caulfield Cup.
Presage Nocturne, fourth in last year’s edition, is entered again for trainer Alessandro Botti, while Furthur, who ran 11th in the Melbourne Cup last year, is one of three nominations for the Caulfield Cup for trainer Andrew Balding.
The only international Group 1 winner among nominations is the Joseph O’Brien-trained Tennessee Stud who was a winner of the Criterium De Saint Cloud, a race for two-year-olds, in October 2024.
Pleasingly, the top six horses across the line in last year’s Caulfield Cup have been nominated again, including the winner Half Yours, one of three entries from the stable of Tony and Calvin McEvoy, although it is expected the dual Cups winner will follow a path to Cox Plate.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable has five entries, including Vauban and Sir Delius, who with Half Yours is expected to head Caulfield Cup weights when they are released next month.
As expected, Chris Waller has the largest number of entries with 18, including Aeliana, Autumn Boy, Buckaroo, Ohope Wins and River Of Stars while Ciaron Maher has 15 entries which include Point Of Law, Light Infantry Man, Middle Earth, Juja Kibo and King Of The Sea.
Bjorn Baker will attempt to emulate his father Murray who won the Australian Derby – Caulfield Cup double with Mongolian Khan in 2015.
Green Spaces won the Derby earlier in the year while he is joined by So You Are and Thebudgiesmugla as entries in the Caulfield Cup.
MRC Chief Executive Officer Tanya Fullarton said the quality and depth of nominations reflected the significance of the milestone edition of the race.
“The 150th Caulfield Cup is a significant milestone for the Melbourne Racing Club and Australian racing, and we are delighted with the quality and depth of horses nominated for this historic running,” Fullarton said.
“With 24 Group 1 winners among the nominations, including reigning Caulfield and Melbourne Cups champion Half Yours and an exciting group of emerging four-year-olds, there is enormous quality already building towards October.
“We have made this year’s Caulfield Cup the richest in the race’s history at $6 million, and the strong increase in international nominations adds another dimension to what is shaping as an outstanding 150th running of one of Australia’s great races.”
