Officials in Victoria, Australia are hoping that Joseph O'Brien's Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby winner Latrobe will make the trip to Flemington in November for the Melbourne Cup, with the Owning Hill handler having famously landed the contest with Rekindling in 2017.
O'Brien's Latrobe could make the trip down under in November to compete in the 'the race that stops a nation', although owner Lloyd Williams has expressed trepidation over his participation due to weight.
Leigh Gordon, executive general manager of Racing at the Victoria Racing Club (VRC), said on Monday: "There would certainly be great interest in seeing Latrobe come to Flemington and I heard Lloyd Williams on the radio this morning doing his best to convince the handicapper not to give him too much weight."
Williams, speaking on RSN 927's Racing Pulse show, said of Latrobe: "I would be surprised if you see him but I'm always keen on a Melbourne Cup."
The six-time winner of Australia's most famous race explained: "Latrobe is only a three-year-old so to bring them out here they have to be down at the bottom of the weights because they are conceding time to the other horses.
"If they gave him some sort of opportunity of being competitive in the race at the weights I would obviously consider bringing him out but there's a big question mark at the moment."
O'Brien said on Sunday at the Curragh regarding a possible tilt at the Cup: "I really don't know. He's probably going to have a good bit more weight than Rekindling had last year so it could be a big ask."
Irish racing previews are brought to you by Horse Racing Ireland
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
