Yeats not on hit list

Champion Irish-trained stayer Yeats is unlikely to be among the targets for Racing Victoria when it sends a top official over to England next week on a recruiting mission.

RV's director of racing operations Leigh Jordon will head to the July Cup meeting at Newmarket in England where he will try and lure international runners for the major spring Cups and The Age Classic - Melbourne's spring leg of the Global Sprint Challenge.

On the list are horses prepared by trainers Luca Cumani and Aidan O'Brien, both of whom had Melbourne Cup starters last year, and Richard Gibson, a UK-born trainer now based in France.

Jordon said O'Brien had a 'raft of horses' that could be possible Melbourne Cup starters this year, including the highly fancied Septimus, Macarthur, Duke Of Marmalade and Honolulu.

Septimus won a Group Three race when resuming on the weekend while the latter three were all victorious during the Royal Ascot Carnival.

Duke Of Marmalade was a brilliant winner of the Prince Of Wales Stakes (2012m) and Macarthur had Group Two success over 2400m.

Honolulu picked up the Queen Alexander Stakes (4200m), the traditional carnival-closing event.

Champion stayer Yeats is unlikely to have a second tilt at the Melbourne Cup as connections are reportedly keen on having a crack at a fourth straight Gold Cup victory next year.

But Jordon said he was confident Cumani would again have a horse targeted for the Cup.

"When we went over last year Purple Moon hadn't really been sighted and he produced it out of nowhere so I'm sure he'll have something," he said.

Gibson has indicated to RV he is 'very positive' about heading to Melbourne but just needs to find a suitable horse.

He trained Doctor Dino to success in last December's Hong Kong Vase (2400m) where he defeated world-class stayer Dylan Thomas.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Patkai will also be in RV's sights, Jordon said.

Patkai, a three-year-old, scored a seven-length win in the Group Three Queen's Vase over two miles at Royal Ascot. That was the race Mahler won for O'Brien last year before his placing in the Melbourne Cup.

An offer has also been extended to trainer John Best to take Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Kingsgate Native to Melbourne for The Age Classic.

"We know he's keen to travel so we'll definitely be following him up," Jordon said.