Mahler (3c Galileo - Rainbow Goddess, by Rainbow Quest), the Aidan O’Brien Irish trained 4 year old stallion as per southern hemisphere, is a top chance in this year’s Melbourne Cup, coming off a last start 2nd to Lucarno in the final English Classic for 2007, the St Leger (approx 2937metres) at Doncaster on September 15th leading most of the way in that race.

On the First Tuesday of November Mahler will carry the comparatively light weight of 50.5kg.

The son of O''Brien''s former 2001 English Derby winning champion Galileo, Mahler is a three-year-old by northern hemisphere breeding time and has raced only seven times, commencing April this year and winning three times, including a Group 3 race, the Queen’s Vase, over 3200m for three-year-olds at the Royal Ascot meeting, being ridden by Mick Kinane of Vintage Crop Melbourne Cup fame.

Obviously the horse can stay and he does have a turn of foot, needed after turning for home at Flemington and the only question mark is if the horse is seasoned enough with so few runs and yardage on the clock. Coolmore Stud thinks he does and believe if it was this time next year and the horse does as he is expected to in Europe next season then he would be closer to top weight for the Cup.

“Steve Baster will take the ride on Mahler as we’ve had some luck with him when he won a Group One on Aqua D’Amore earlier in the year,” said Coolmore’s head honcho, John Magnier. No doubt if Mahler snares the rich prize, fellow jockeys may dub Steve as “Lucky Baster”.

The Coolmore owned horse has a connection with the great Vincent O’Brien (no relation to Aidan), famed as the Master of Ballydoyle, and the trainer of 6 English Derby winners, the first being Larkspur in 1962, whose rider the great Neville Sellwood died five months later after a race-fall in France. O’Brien’s other Derby winners were Sir Ivor (1968), Nijinsky (1970), Roberto (1972), The Minstrel (1977), all four ridden by the legendary jockey Lester Piggott who your correspondent Andrew Beattie met at Epsom Downs in 2004 at the Derby, and finally, O’Brien trained Golden Fleece to win in 1982.

Neville Sellwood, of course, rode two Melbourne Cup winners, Delta in 1951 and Toparoa for TJ Smith in 1955 and in the 1960 Cup rode, badly it is generally agreed, the champion Tulloch, in his only unplaced run in a 53 start career.

During the 1970s, Vincent O’Brien and owner Robert Sangster, who won the Melbourne Cup in 1980 with Beldale Ball, trained by David Hayes’ father, the late Colin, along with O''Brien''s son-in-law, John Magnier, established what became known as the Coolmore syndicate, which has become the world’s most successful horse-racing and breeding operation, out of Coolmore Stud in County Tipperary, Ireland. Coolmore recently bought a controlling interest in Australia’s top miler, Haradasun, valuing the horse at $45million.

Coolmore founder Vincent O''Brien married Australian Jacqueline Wittenoom in 1951 and Vincent, now retired, spends half of each year with his wife in her home town of Perth, Western Australia and the remainder of the year in Ireland.

Wittenoom is also unfortunately the name of the infamous asbestos mining town in the heart of the Pilbara but if Mahler salutes the judge on Tuesday, despite it being a very long way from Tipperary, then the horse will overnight turn into a goldmine for the Coolmore breeding operation.

For the omen punters I awoke last Tuesday morning, having dreamt the winning trifecta numbers of 11 from 10 and 5 and the name On A Jeune figured in my slumbering too.

Sunday 4th, November and my tip is now Mahler, with Blutigeroo best outsider. The best run from a Melbourne Cup point of view to come out of Derby Day on Saturday, in my opinion, was Zipping.

Don’t forget to make a donation to the David Morris Liver Cancer Research Fund – read my book The Septimus Curse at www.theseptimuscurse.com .

Good punting!