Trainer Ed Dunlop will wait to see how Red Cadeaux performs in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury before deciding whether to have a fifth crack at the Melbourne Cup.
The nine-year-old has lined up in the past four Cups, finishing second in 2011, 2013 and 2014 and eighth in 2012.
He also finished second in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney during the autumn.
His regular attendance in Melbourne has made him a favourite in Australia and he has a barn named in his honour at the Werribee quarantine centre.
Last seen when seventh of seven in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, Red Cadeaux is now enjoying a mid-season holiday before the Geoffrey Freer Stakes on August 15 in which he second in 2013 and fourth last year.
He’s having a break in preparation for the Geoffrey Freer and how he does there will tell us if he goes back to Melbourne again,” Dunlop said.
“The ground was too firm for him at Ascot.
“He is very fresh and still looks like he has got all his old enthusiasm.”
Stablemate Trip To Paris, another Melbourne Cup hopeful, is on course to make his next appearance in the Goodwood Cup on July 30.
The winner of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot pleased Dunlop in a work-out on Tuesday morning and is now set for the Group Two contest over the Melbourne Cup distance of two miles (3200m).
“He worked this morning and I was very happy with the way he went. All went well,” said Dunlop.
“We’ll aim him towards the Goodwood Cup, with all the usual caveats, but we’re more than happy.”
Dunlop believes the Trip To Paris story in progressing from handicaps to Group One winner is one that gives hope to every racehorse owner.
“The story is not about me, it’s about a STG20,000 ($A41,959) breeze-up purchase that wins Ascot’s coveted prize. It means that it’s possible for every owner and that I think is really the story,” he said.
