Make No Mistake, who will attempt to provide Dermot Weld with another landmark Australian success in the BMW Cox Plate in 18 days' time, has begun his final preparations at Sandown Park racecourse outside Melbourne.
Sandown was also the base from which Vintage Crop became the first non-Australasian runner to win the Melbourne Cup and Make No Mistake will attempt to do the same in the Group One Cox Plate which is Australia's version of the King George or Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Another Vintage Crop echo is provided by the famous gelding's stable lad David Phillips who is looking after Make No Mistake before Weld travels down under.
Riding arrangements for Make No Mistake in the Cox Plate, which is run at the very tight Moonee Valley track, have yet to be finalised.
The Cox Plate is the Australian leg of the Emirates World Series and among Make No Mistake's likely opposition will be the top home runner Tie The Knot.
Before that, Aidan O'Brien will attempt to bring his groundbreaking season with twoyear-olds to a successful climax. Fasliyev and Bernstein have already been mentioned regarding Newmarket's Dewhurst Stakes but another Group One pot is available before that in this Sunday's Grand Criterium at Longchamp.
The Ballydoyle trainer has the Royal Lodge winner Royal Kingdom as well as the maiden winners Ciro, Aristotle and Lermontov entered for France's greatest two-year-old race and reported yesterday he is likely to have a representative in the race.
O'Brien also said it was possible he will have a runner in the Breeders Cup Juvenile race at Gulfstream Park on November 6th but one definite contender there will be Stravinsky in the Sprint.
Irish challengers Risk Of Thunder and Dennistownthriller will become the first horses to fly out to the Czech Republic for the Velka Pardubicka when they set off from Dublin Airport on Saturday.
Risk Of Thunder, who runs in the colours of actor Sean Connery, only made it as far as the ninth fence in the event last year and will be ridden by Ruby Walsh in Sunday's race at Pardubice.
The Pat Doyle-trained Dennistownthriller will be having his first run in the famous four miles two-and-a-half furlongs contest in which he will be ridden by Ken Whelan.
Shannon Fountain, trained like Risk Of Thunder by Enda Bolger, will also fly out and will tackle a three miles two furlongs crosscountry chase on the same card.
