Popular English stayer Red Cadeaux appeared to defy the fact he was a rising 10-year-old after he turned in a sterling gallop at Werribee on Monday morning that will see him become a major drawcard in Saturday week's $1 million Australian Cup at Flemington.
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Stable attendants were surprised at how the nine-year-old looked when he went through his first strong gallop since flying to Australia a fortnight ago.
Staff pointed out that Red Cadeaux was having his first turf gallop since racing in Hong Kong at the rich carnival in December.
"He really looked terrific today. He's getting on in years and he is never that happy when he works with another horse," said Ed Dunlop team spokesman Robin Trevor-Jones.
"If there is a lead horse in the gallop he tends not to go past them, so we pretty much leave him on his own when he has a serious gallop.
"But we didn't knock him about and he was really strong to the line and it's really amazing he seems to relish being back here in Australia."
The trainer of the rising 10-year-old is currently in England but has stayed in daily contact with his team at the Werribee quarantine centre.
Red Cadeaux will be aiming to win the Melbourne Cup in his fifth attempt this year and has already finished second on three occasions in Australia's most important horse race.
"We'll go to Flemington and will hope the track is not too hard as he will handle it but it just takes a bit of recover after it," Trevor-Jones said.
"But after Flemington we'll head to Sydney and again will hope the tracks aren't hard up there and will look at the Sydney Cup and the BMW as their main targets during the rich Sydney Autumn Carnival."
Red Cadeaux has become one of the most popular horses of the world's racing circuit, gathering supporters in each country the veteran races in.
After competing in Sydney the stayer will fly home to England and will be spelled until making his record-breaking fifth attempt at winning a Melbourne Cup.
It appears certain that Red Cadeaux will clash with German stayer Protectionist, possibly making for a replay of the 2014 Melbourne Cup with the pair quinellaing the event.
Protectionist finished sixth in last Saturday's Group 2 Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield with the Kris Lees stable now deciding whether to also head to the Australian Cup or return straight to Sydney and be groomed for the BMW.
Lees and jockey Craig Williams agreed the tightness of the Caulfield track was the undoing of Protectionist in his first Australian start since settling in Sydney after last year's Melbourne Cup.
