Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with her racing manager John Warren react after her horse, Estimate, won the Gold Cup on day three of the Royal Ascot meeting. Source: AP
ESTIMATE, the mare which gave the Queen a famous win in the Ascot Gold Cup last week, is at the top of Racing Victoria's wishlist for the Melbourne Cup this spring.
Leigh Jordon, RV's international equine recruiter, leaves for Europe on Monday week to drum up interest in the spring carnival and conceded he will be hoping to persuade trainer Sir Michael Stoute to bring Estimate to Melbourne this spring.
"I think the odds are against us but I will certainly be asking the question," Jordon said. "It seems Estimate will probably go for the Prix du Cadran in France in October but we are going to try and see if there is any interest in running the mare in the Melbourne Cup."
Queen Elizabeth II was trackside at Royal Ascot last week when she became the first ruling monarch to own the winner of the Ascot Gold Cup in the race's 207-year history as Estimate held off Simenon to win the 2 1/2-mile (4000m) staying test.
It is not without precedent for the Queen to have a Melbourne Cup starter. Her stayer Arabian Story ran sixth to Might And Power in 1997.
The Queen already has sent the outstanding Carlton House to Australia to the stables of trainer Gai Waterhouse to be aimed at the Melbourne spring carnival. Carlton House is more likely to be set for the Cox Plate but is at $51 in early Melbourne Cup betting.
Jordon will visit leading trainers in England and Ireland before visiting training centres in France and Germany during a two-week tour.
He is hoping to entice Irish training genius Aidan O'Brien to return to Melbourne this spring after a five-year absence."Leading Light won the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot and Aidan did mention the Melbourne Cup," Jordon said.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II next to her horse Estimate who won the Gold Cup horse race on the third day traditionally known as Ladies Day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting.
"Like I do every year, I will go and knock on his door to see if we can get him to send some horses to Melbourne again.
"The US Breeders Cup is on Derby Day at Flemington so I would imagine Aidan will be in America but hopefully he will look at our spring carnival - five years is too long."
But Jordon believes the days of having 10-12 international runners in the Melbourne cup might be over.
"The race is changing, no doubt," Jordon said.
"You need to have a horse weighted around 54kg or above to be certain of getting into the Melbourne Cup field now so this means you have to look at the better European stayers and they are the horses more likely to run in races like the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Champion Stakes in October rather than the Melbourne Cup.
"I think the number of international Cup runners could be back to more like four to six runners each spring."
Jordon said he won't be just targeting Melbourne Cup horses either when he travels to Europe next month.
"My charter is to try and entice horses for the whole of the spring carnival," he added.
"The main races are the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup but we will be trying to get some sprinters and milers here, too.
"The Manikato Stakes and Patinack Farm Classic are worth $1 million now and so is the Emirates Stakes and I'm hoping we can get horses for those races."
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