Mullins seeks triumph in Australia's Melbourne Cup

Vauban is bidding to become the fifth Irish-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup

Irish trainer Willie Mullins will seek an elusive first Melbourne Cup victory in Australia's most famous race on Tuesday.

Mullins, the only man to train 100 winners at jump racing's Cheltenham Festival, has targeted the Flat contest (04:00 GMT) as a key event he wants to win.

He hopes last year's favourite Vauban, who finished 14th, can fare better this time, with Mullins also running Absurde, who took seventh place 12 months ago.

Onesmoothoperator represents Brian Ellison, with Sea King running for fellow British trainer Harry Eustace at Flemington Racecourse.

Caulfield Cup runner-up Buckaroo is among the leading Australia-based hopes in the 'race that stops a nation'. Trainer Chris Waller, who was born in New Zealand, also saddles Kovalica, Land Legend, Valiant King and Manzoice.

Vauban won the Lonsdale Cup at York before finishing runner-up to Kyprios in the Irish St Leger last time, while Absurde landed the Chester Stakes having won the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

Mullins would dearly love to scoop a Melbourne Cup.

"It's probably the biggest flat race in the world that I can win with the type of horses we buy," said Mullins, 68, who was second with Max Dynamite in 2015.

"That's why it's a race that we'd really love to win."

Hollie Doyle will ride Sea King, with William Buick on Vauban

There have been four Irish-trained winners of the Melbourne Cup - Vintage Crop (1993), Media Puzzle (2002), Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020).

Mullins' compatriot Aidan O'Brien misses out on the chance to win the race for the first time after his contender Jan Brueghel failed a veterinary check last week. Stricter tests on overseas runners, aimed at improving the race's safety record, were introduced in 2021.

Ellison and Eustace are bidding to become only the second British trainer to win the two-mile contest, after Charlie Appleby with Cross Counter six years ago.

Onesmoothoperator won the Northumberland Plate earlier in the year and took the Geelong Cup in Australia on 23 October.

British jockey Hollie Doyle takes the ride on Bendigo Cup winner Sea King as she looks to become only the second female rider to win, after Australian Michelle Payne's victory on Prince Of Penzance in 2015.

Doyle is among a record number of four women riding in this year's race, alongside Jamie Kah (Okita Soushi), Rachel King (The Map) and Winona Costin (Positivity).

"I think it's the most important thing," said Waller. "We're all equal on a racetrack and that's what makes racing so unique."