Melbourne Cup Winner Back In Ireland

The 2017 Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) has returned from Australia to his former trainer Joseph O'Brien.

Now six, the stallion was originally retired from racing last August and his owner Lloyd Williams announced at the time that he would stand at stud in Europe. Rekindling did not reappear in action until 16 months after his most famous victory, and he finished last of 15 runners in the G1 Australian Cup at Flemington in March 2019 when trained by Liam Howley.

Now back at O'Brien's stable at Owning Hill, Co Kilkenny, he is being prepared to resume his racing career in Ireland this season.

Speaking to Sky Sports Racing, O'Brien said, “He was very, very good to us a couple of years ago. I suppose it's fairly obvious things haven't gone smoothly for him since then, but it's great to have him back in the yard.

“We'll aim nice and low and then gradually move our way up into some better targets as the year progresses. We're just excited to get him started first of all and then we can go from there.”

He added, “I suppose you could say on his 3-year-old form there's a big chance he could turn into that type of [Cup] horse, but obviously there has been plenty of water under the bridge between now and when he won the Melbourne Cup.

“We'll get a bit of confidence on the board first of all and take it race by race from there, see what Lloyd would like to have a crack at with him. The most important thing will be to get him back on track and try to get him some confidence.”