Aidan O'Brien's first Melbourne Cup contender Yeats has landed in Australia officially carrying the title of Europe's leading stayer.
Only the Japanese superstar Deep Impact is rated a better stayer in world racing right now and his mark of 123 from the handicappers' federation came for a two-mile win last April.
Since then Yeats has won both the Ascot and Goodwood Gold Cups and his mark of 121, announced by the federation yesterday, reflects his position as topweight for next month's big race at Flemington.
The double Group One winner landed in Australia on Tuesday after a 38-hour trip from Heathrow to Singapore and on to Melbourne that had a minimal impact on the five-year-old. "He is used to travelling and it was no bother to him at all," said O'Brien's assistant Andrew Murphy to the local Age newspaper.
Murphy and Yeats will be joined later this week by jockey Kieren Fallon who will also be riding in the Cup for the first time. Fallon was on board when Yeats was surprised by Kastoria in last month's Irish Leger.
"Things didn't work out for Kieren. The pace was muddling and it might have been better if he had taken up the running sooner than he did," Murphy added.
Yeats is currently in quarantine at Sandown racecourse outside Melbourne after his marathon trip Down Under that included a seven-hour stopover at Heathrow.
The Irish Leger winner Kastoria has her own international target this weekend as she is one of four European hopefuls for the $2 million Canadian International at Woodbine on Sunday night.
The John Oxx-trained mare worked six furlongs at the Toronto track yesterday under the watchful eye of Oxx's assistant, Jim "Slim" O'Neill.
"She's fit. She doesn't really need to do any work," said O'Neill.
The former Breeders' Cup winner Better Talk Now and Collier Hill, one of three British hopes, are expected to be among a final field of 10 announced today.
Yesterday's handicap federation announcement revealed that George Washington is officially rated one of the best four horses racing in the world right now.
Along with the Arc winner Rail Link and the top American horses, Bernardini and Lava Man, the Aidan O'Brien-trained Guineas winner is on the 127 mark.
The former top-rated Hurricane Run has dropped to fifth place on 126 after being beaten in both the Arc and the Champion Stakes.
George Washington is set to clash with both Bernardini and Lava Man in next month's Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs which will be the Irish star's first attempt on a dirt surface.
