Qantas CEO and Dubliner Alan Joyce pictured with former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the Emirates Marquee on Melbourne Cup day at Flemington.

While the Dermot Weld trained Galileo’s Choice faded badly in the final furlongs, Irish-bred horses dominated the Melbourne Cup.

Remarkably, the first seven horses to finish the Cup – and eight of the top ten – were bred in Ireland.

Winner Green Moon was bred in Ireland and raced in Britain until 2010 when he was brought to Australia by owner Lloyd Williams.

Runner-up Fiorente followed a similar path while Jakkalberry (third), Kellini (fourth), Mount Athos (fifth), Glencadam Gold (sixth) and Mourayan (seventh) were all foaled in Ireland.

Top Irish trainer Dermot Weld said his horse Galileo’s Choice had run well but the hard track did not suit him.

“We had thunder and lightning but, unfortunately, no rain,” said Weld after the race.

“If we’d had a drop of rain he could have been in the first three.”

The Irish flavour on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington was embellished at the Emirates Marquee which was themed ‘Dublin’ and designed to resemble the Long Room at Trinity College.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, a proud Dubliner, was spotted among the revellers at the marquee.

Emirates and Qantas recently unveiled plans to codeshare flights to Europe via Dubai.

Mr Joyce sat with visiting British royal Prince Charles to watch the race.

At the Emirates Marquee, politicians and celebrities were also among the throng enjoying the Irish-inspired treats including  oat biscuit with Cashel blue cheese and red onion marmalade,classic Irish stew made from Murray Valley spring lamb and ‘Dublin Bay’ prawns.

Among those enjoying the hospitality were Irish American actress Mischa Barton, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, ministers Anthony Albanese and Martin Ferguson and a raft of Australian TV stars and celebrities.

President-elect of the Irish Australian Chamber Of Commerce Colin Egan was there along with the incumbent Brian Shanahan who fell short in his recent bid to become Melbourne Lord Mayor.

Irish Melbourne Cup hopeful Galileo's Choice goes through his work at Werribee last week.

The Irish connections of Galileo’s Choice are praying for rain ahead of tomorrow’s Melbourne Cup.

The horse is among the top fancies for the multi-million dollar race but the Flemington track is rated very firm which may not suit him.

Trainer Dermot Weld will be hoping that the forecast showers prove to be heavier than expected as every drop of rain will help Galileo’s Choice in the big race.

Weld, the first overseas trainer to win the ‘race that stops a nation’ with Vintage Crop in 1993 and again with Media Puzzle in 2002, has been directing a meticulous approach from afar.

The seven-year-old gelding completed his final piece of work before many track-watchers had even arrived last week and was also taken for a preparatory visit to Flemington.

His work rider Tom Daly said: “The boss knows what it takes to win the Melbourne Cup – he has two. Ideally we’d like a bit of rain before Tuesday, but there’s not much we can do about it.”

Mr Daly was very upbeat about the horse’s chances of taking a third Melbourne Cup back to Ireland.

“He’s won his last four flat races ranging in distance from one mile two furlongs through to two mile one furlong. I think we have an excellent chance.”

Galileo’s Choice is one of nine Irish-bred horses in the race.

Others include the highly-fancied Mount Athos, trained by Britain’s Luca Cumani, Fiorente, now trained in Sydney by Gai Waterhouse and American St Leger winner Jakalberry, who will be ridden by Irish hoop Colm O’Donoghue.

Pat Smullen, Dermot Weld’s number one rider, has also travelled from Ireland to ride Galileo’s Choice.

Thanks to our friends at Emirates, we have free passes to the Spring Racing Carnival at Flemington to give away.

You and nine of your mates can win free admission to any one of the four feature racing days at Flemington.

We will pick two winners for each of the four days. The winner will receive 10 free general admission passes, courtesy of Emirates and the Irish Echo.

To enter, just fill in the form below. But be quick, the first race day is this coming Saturday, Derby Day.

Irish trainer Dermot Weld’s bid to win a third Melbourne Cup is on track.

Weld’s Cup hopeful – Galileo’s Choice – is stabled with the other international horses at Werribee in outer Melbourne.

Despite a difficult trip from Ireland, all is good with the seven-year-old, according to his strapper.

“He’s 100 per cent,” handler Tom Daly said earlier today.

Galileo’s Choice has much in common with Weld’s first Cup winner back in 1993.

Like Vintage Crop, he has run on the flat and over hurdles. He is lightly raced, like Vintage Crop was when he won the famous two-miler.

Weld remains the only Irish or British trainer to have won the covetted cup and the only international trainer to have won more than one – Media Puzzle won the race in 2005.

While Galileo’s Choice is the only Irish-trained horse in the race, there are many Irish-bred thoroughbreds among the fancies.

Current favourite Glencadam Gold was bred in Ireland as were many of the other hopefuls including Green Moon, Quest For Peace, Mourayan and Gatewood.

Galileo’s Choice is 16/1 to take out the Emirates Melbourne Cup for 2012.

Dermot Weld’s Galileo’s Choice is the most favoured of Ireland’s five remaining entries into this year’s Melbourne Cup.

Weld remains the only Irish trainer to have claimed the coveted Cup, winning it twice, first with Vintage Crop in 1993 and with Media Puzzle in 2002.

Galileo’s Choice is a dual Group Three winner who has shown the right sort of form for the two-mile classic at Flemington.

Earlier this week, the horse was give 53.5kg by the handicapper, 4.5kg less than the topweights, Americain and last year’s winner, Dunaden.

Galileo’s Choice shortened in the betting after the announcement.

Weld has also left in Rite Of Passage and Sapphire in the race that stops a nation. But it is Galileo’s Choice who has already entered quarantine.

Two other Irish-trained horses figure among the long-range entries. Hartani (John Oxx) and I Have A Dream (Aidan O’Brien) have been allocated weights lower than 52kg.

The Luca Cumani-trained Mouth Athos tops the current betting which is dominated by overseas entries.

Cumani also has Quest For Peace on 53.5kg while Michael Stoute’s Fiorente is on the same weight.

Godolphin have had to settle for minor honours on four previous occasions and Ascot Gold Cup winner Colour Vision heads their team on 55kg.

Cavalryman on 54kg, Lost In The Moment on 53kg – the same weight he carried to sixth in last year’s Cup – and Ebor winner Willing Foe on 52.5kg complete their list of possibles.

Jakkalberry, who won the American St Leger for trainer Marco Botti last time, has 55.5kg.

The Melbourne Cup will be run at Flemington on Tuesday, November 6.

Brian McFadden and Vogue Williams with the Melbourne Cup. The couple attended the launch of the Emirates Marquee. (Pic: Supplied)

Brian McFadden and Vogue Williams have stepped out as newlyweds in Melbourne, after returning to Australia following an intimate wedding ceremony in Italy.

The couple were among those who attended a launch event for Emirates’ Irish-themed Melbourne Cup marquee last night.

McFadden performed U2′s All I Want Is You, one of a number of Irish classics on the former Westlife singer’s upcoming new album The Irish Connection.

The singer will be special guest at the Emirates marquee on AAMI Derby Day, where he will also perform.

Collingwood FC’s Irish recruit Caolan Mooney was also there last night, with the club’s sport scientist Kevin White.

Channel 9 presenter Brodie Harper, actor Damien Brodie and actor Michala Banas and Kade Greenland were among the celebrities to enjoy the Irish fare.

Christine Ayres Irish Dancers, recently crowned world champions in Belfast, performed and offered a taste of the impending celebration of all things Irish at the themed marquee.

Guests were also given a taste of what to expect in the marquee’s Irish Country Kitchen with ‘minty blarney meatballs’, ‘handmade beef and Guinness pies’ and Irish Stew all featuring on the menu during the four-day Melbourne Cup carnival.

Barry Brown, Emirates’ Vice President Australasia, said the airline was excited to bring to life all the best known and cherished elements of Ireland in what will be an Irish cultural festival.

“Australia and Ireland have a long and rich history, which can be further linked to the strong ties the two countries have with thoroughbred horseracing, particularly with the legendary Dermot Weld, being the first international to win a Melbourne Cup with Vintage Crop,” said Mr Brown.

Last month, organisers announced that actress Mischa Barton will also attend the marquee.

Mischa Barton will appear at the Emirates Marquee.

Melbourne Cup organisers have lured their first celebrity to the November racing extravaganza, with Mischa Barton set to attend the Dublin-themed Emirates Marquee.

Barton is currently combining highly successful careers in both fashion and entertainment.

Next month, she returns to the stage in an Irish production of Steel Magnolias with Australian actress Anne Charleston.

Born to an Irish mother and with a grandfather who was Gaelic language professor at the University of Belfast, organisers hope Ms Barton will be a glamorous addition to the exclusive Irish-themed Emirates Marquee on Emirates Melbourne Cup Day.

It has been inspired by the famous landmarks of Ireland’s capital and Trinity College.

Ms Barton will then join the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) chairman Michael Burn to watch the race in the Chairman’s Suite.

“I am so looking forward to being a guest of Emirates and the Victoria Racing Club at the Emirates Melbourne Cup,” said Ms Barton.

“I am excited to visit Flemington racecourse and witness what I understand is an extraordinary fashion spectacle.

“Being of Irish descent, I’m sure I will feel right at home in the Emirates Marquee and I can’t wait to be involved in this world-famous event.”

Mr Burn said the VRC was looking forward to welcoming the international beauty to Flemington for Emirates Melbourne Cup Day.

“Ms Barton’s presence emphasises the international appeal of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

“We have no doubt her time at Flemington will be one that she fondly remembers,” he said.

Dublin's iconic staue of famed fishmonger Molly Malone

Dublin’s iconic statue of Molly Malone may be moved to Melbourne during the construction of a new Luas tramway line, it has emerged.

The Irish Echo has learned that an ambitious plan to temporarily relocate the statue to the Victorian capital is under consideration in Dublin.

The bronze statue, which currently sits on the northern end of Grafton St, will have to be moved during the contruction phase of the new Luas link line between St Stephen’s Green and O’Connell Street.

Unconfirmed reports have claimed that the statue will be displayed at Flemington racecourse during the Spring Racing Carnival as part of a promotion for The Gathering, Tourism Ireland’s initiative for 2013.

Other monuments which may have to be relocated, though not to Australia, include the Lady Grattan fountain, the statue of Thomas Moore on College Green and Jim Larkin’s statue.

Molly Malone is the famed fishmonger of the song who “wheeled her wheebarrow through streets broad and narrow crying cockles and mussels alive, alive O”.

The statue has become known colloquially as “the tart with the cart” in Dublin.

It would not be the first time a monument has made the long journey from Ireland to Australia. In 1987, a statue of Queen Victoria was donated to the people of Australia by the people of Ireland.

The statue previously sat in front of Leinster House, the home of Irish government, in Kildare St, Dublin.
It sits to this day at the western entrance to Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building on George Street.

RACING Victoria’s international equine recruiting agent Leigh Jordan has been dispatched to Dublin to convince Irish training genius Aidan O’Brien to again target the Melbourne Cup.

Top Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien

O’Brien, who prepared former Australian champion So You Think to win five Group 1 races in Europe including the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, has not returned down under since his three stayers – Septimus (18th), Alessandro Volta (20th) and Honolulu (21st) – ran poorly behind Viewed in the 2008 Melbourne Cup.

The celebrated trainer left Melbourne with a sour taste in his mouth having been called in from the stewards to explain his horses tactics.

“I go back to Ballydoyle every year since Aidan was last in Melbourne,” Jordan told Melbourne’s Herald Sun.

“I keep knocking on his door so I hope this might be the year he does come back for the Cup.”

Jordan will visit O’Brien and other leading trainers in Ireland this week including two-time Melbourne Cup winner Dermot Weld (Vintage Crop 1993, Media Puzzle 2002), John Oxx and others to try to lure their best stayers to compete in the Melbourne Cup later this year.

While there are no Irish-trained runners in this year’s Melbourne Cup, there are many entries with Irish connections.

The English-trained Jukebox Jury won the Irish St Leger at The Curragh in September.

Red Cadeaux, also in Melbourne, ran on gamely to finish third in that race.

Green Moon, among the favourites but not guaranteed a start in the race, was bred in Ireland.

Mourayan also started its career in Ireland before switching to Australian racing in 2009.

Modun, to be ridden by champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy, was bred at Ballymacoll Stud in Meath and is now owned by the Godolphin group.

Another Irish-bred runner, Bauer, represents a good outside chance after a solid run in the Geelong Cup last week.

Trainer Luca Cumani believes the eight-year-old could have the strongest chance of his three potential Emirates Melbourne Cup runners — provided the grey makes the cut for next Tuesday’s race.

The 2008 runner-up sits 29th on the list for Australia’s premier event, although his chance of making it up to the magic number 24 will be helped by the fact Cumani is to withdraw stablemate Sahara Sun, who ran disappointingly in the Bendigo Cup last week.

Manighar and Drunken Sailor are already ensconced in the field, while Bauer could do with a slice of luck as he missed last year’s race at the last minute when suffering from a hoof problem.

A winner of the Old Borough Cup at Haydock in September, the eight-year-old has been Down Under for a while now and finished a close sixth in the Herbert Power Stakes at Caulfield before managing an eye-catching third to Dunaden in last week’s Geelong Cup.

After watching his three runners complete a light workout at their base in Werribee, on the outskirts of Melbourne, during Thursday morning, Cumani said: “I think he’s very well. As you saw in the Herbert Power and the Geelong Cup, he ran two excellent races.

“He’s a fit horse and he’s ready to go on Tuesday if he gets in.

“Sahara Sun is out of the race as he didn’t run well enough. I don’t know why, as we were hopeful of a big run.

“Bauer has got history with the Melbourne Cup. We know he likes Flemington and I think he’d be our best chance if he gets in.

“He went within a pixel of winning three years ago and with a bit of luck he would have won it.

“I feel he’s in the same shape as he was.”

Cumani was also second in the 2007 Melbourne Cup with Purple Moon and has a yearning desire to lift the prize.

Manighar, the mount of Damien Oliver and seventh in last year’s Melbourne Cup, was fourth in the same Caulfield race having filled that position in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

“We tried some blinkers on Manighar and he seemed to like his new hat, so he’s going to wear it on Tuesday,” Cumani continued.

“Drunken Sailor never does anything (on the gallops) and always makes me look a fool.

“We need quite a few to drop out but if Bauer gets in then Dwayne Dunn will switch to him and Kieren Fallon will fly over to ride Drunken Sailor.”

Colleen Bamford, one of the part-owners of race favourite Americain, also recently bought into Jukebox Jury.

She was present in the Melbourne suburbs to watch the pair put through their paces.

“Americain is a true champion and he got over his last run quicker than any other run so far,” she said.

“It was a dream come true last year and to be back with two horses with really good chances, well, it’s all a bit too much.

“Americain is a bigger, stronger horse than 12 months ago, although he’s carrying a lot more weight this time.

“Jukebox Jury looks beautiful and I couldn’t be happier with him, either.

“A lot depends on what happens on the day. They are both in the weights and I’d say Americain is probably the horse to beat, but Jukebox Jury will be right up there with him.”