Aidan O’Brien could have first runners in Sydney’s Championships

Aidan O’Brien’s Australian runners failed to hit the bullseye during Melbourne’s spring carnival, but Ireland’s top flat trainer could have his first runners in Sydney’s Championships meeting in April.

Highland Reel, third in last month’s Cox Plate, has been nominated as a possible starter in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes, part of the lucrative Championships meeting at the Royal Randwick track.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is Australia’s richest weight-for-age event and the showpiece of Sydney’s autumn carnival.

Hong Kong

"I think there is a good chance we will go for the Championships," O'Brien said. "Highland Reel might go to Hong Kong [International Cup in December] and then return to Australia. Tom [Magnier] and the team will have a lot to do with that decision."

Magnier runs the Coolmore’s Australian operation and confirmed: “Dad [John Magnier] and Aidan are keen to bring the right horses for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and other big races.”

Dermot Weld has indicated Free Eagle is likely to end his career at Hong Kong's international festival next month, and prior to that last week's Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite could take up an invitation to Tokyo for the Japan Cup at the end of this month.

Willie Mullins took Simenon to both Japan and Hong Kong after he finished fourth in the 2013 Melbourne Cup, and Bet365 rates Max Dynamite 12-1 for the Japan Cup.

Ireland’s only winner of Japanese racing’s most famous international event was Stanerra in 1983. The last overseas winner was Alkaased a decade ago.