"Admire Rakti wasn't considered a top horse in Japan, he was a fifth-rater. You would be flat to find someone who thought he was a good horse."
Japan this time sends Fame Game and Hokko Brave, horses Allpress rates as "top class".
Which is a considerable worry for Mongolian Khan's trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, and the connections of the 150-something other nominations for the world's greatest staying race.
The last time Japan sent a horse to the Melbourne Cup was in 2006 when Delta Blues and Pop Rock finished first and second with the rest down the track.
Fame Game and Hokko Brave are lengths better than either Delta Blues or Pop Rock.
Lisa Allpress was hugely impressed by the Japanese horses when she rode there. The reason for the meteoric rise in class of Japanese thoroughbreds traces directly to the Japan Cup, the world's richest race until the Dubai Cup came on stream.
The Japan Cup was put in place to attract the world's best stayers and when in Japan the stallions and mares were the subject of offers of purchase. Many were secured and those were bred to the next generation of Japan Cup invitees and over a period of 25 to 30 years a better quality horse was gradually developed.
Because the Japan Cup was run at 2400m, the international purchases were stayers and the horses that morphed were strong on stamina.
That's something that staggered Lisa Allpress. "The first 2-year-old race of the season is at 1200m. The following week they run at 1400m and a week later again they run from 1400m to 2000m.
"I used to say to trainers: 'How can you run a 2-year-old at 2000m?' and they look at me strangely. You gradually get it though because that's the way the Japanese horses are bred.
"I rode a group one horse called Rainbow Dahlia. She looked like a 5-year-old mare and she was a 2-year-old filly. You get on their horses and they are so broad across the back."
Murray Baker concedes the quality of international raiders makes it a tougher task for Mongolian Khan becoming the first Kiwi-trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup in 14 years.
Racing Victoria's international recruiter Leigh Jordan predicts up to seven European horses and two from Japan will make the final cut from 31 international nominations. Irishman Aidan O'Brien, who trained Adelaide to last year's Cox Plate victory, has nominated four horses. Irish trainer and dual Melbourne Cup winner Dermot Weld's two nominations are Manalapan and Zafayan.
There will be plenty of sentimental support for two 10-year-olds - Precedence and Red Cadeaux - who are both aiming for their fifth Cup run.
Racing Victoria's general manager of racing Greg Carpenter echoed the thoughts of Jordan when he described the quality of nominations, including last year's winner Protectionist, now trained in Sydney by Kris Lees, as outstanding.
"The depth among the international contingent is exceptional with the Ascot Gold Cup quinella, Hardwicke Stakes winner, Goodwood Cup trifecta, Lonsdale Cup winner and a pair of Japan's elite stayers among 31 international entries," Carpenter said.
"Following the passing of the 'Cups King' Bart Cummings there will naturally be plenty of people hoping that Precedence can secure his place in a fifth Melbourne Cup and it would be most fitting if he could." Weights for the 3200m Cup will be released on September 15.
Murray Baker has had seven attempts at winning the Melbourne Cup and came closest in 1990 when The Phantom finished second, beaten one length by Bart Cummings' Kingston Rule which ran the fastest cup in history.
"But it's a thrill just to have a horse qualified to run on the first Tuesday in November because it's a race that stops two nations."
Odds on Aussie TAB
• $8 Fame Game
• $10 Max Dynamite
• $16 Hartnell, Mongolian Khan, Snow Sky
• $18 Hauraki, Hokko Brave, Libran, Trip to Paris
• $21 Order of St George, Protectionist, Red Cadeaux, Who Shot Thebarman, Zafayan.
