Irish horse Septimus has rocketed into Melbourne Cup contention with his winning return to racing in the group three Curragh Cup at the weekend.
Australian corporate bookmaker Betstar elevated him to $15 equal favourite for the Cup alongside last year's winner Efficient, while Sportingbet Australia has him onthe second line with Kibbutz at $17 and Efficient at $12.
Champion trainer Aidan O'Brien has indicated he is looking seriously at bringing Septimus to Australia for the Cup in November.
The Irish St Leger will be the next test for Septimus.
"I'm delighted. He wasn't away from home at all this year and is a fresh horse. It's great to get him started," O'Brien said.
"Johnny [jockey Murtagh] took his time and they set a sensible pace. He got a bit tired but was entitled to. He's had no first half of the season and will hopefully carry on fresh.
"We would love to come back for the Irish Leger. The King George and all those races are there for him and he could take in a race like the Lonsdale Cup [at York] which he won last year."
The O'Brien-trained Mahler ran third in last year's Cup with English horse Purple Moon second.
O'Brien believes Septimus is an ideal type for the Cup but says he is still learning about Australia's most famous race.
"You need a particular type of horse for the Cup," O'Brien said. "They need to be tough and they need to be fast stayers.
"We brought Mahler down thinking he was the right horse but he wasn't good enough."
In 2006, the O'Brien-trained Yeats ran seventh to Japanese horse Delta Blues. O'Brien says he may nominate the triple Ascot Gold Cup winner again this year but will not make a decision on which horses come here until September.
Meanwhile, Cup aspirations for Sydney stayer Amen were dashed by a tendon injury but the talented gelding can take the first step towards reviving them when he resumes at Rosehill on Saturday. He lines up for just his 14th start after having been off the scene since February last year.
