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Damien Oliver is set to get the first feel of his Caulfield Cup mount Mustajeer at Werribee this week.
Trainer Kris Lees has arranged for Oliver to go to Werribee to ride the high class import in a gallop.
He will also ride Mustajeer in his work at Caulfield next week. Lees plans to transfer the import from Werribee to Caulfield stables after he is released from his two weeks quarantine on Saturday.
It will be an eventful week for the Mustajeer team as 25% share in the Ebor Handicap winner is being offered for sale online by shareholder Gaelic Bloodstock in a 36-hour bidding window on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The other 75 percent in the exciting stayer, who arrived in Australia on September 28, is owned by the Australian Bloodstock syndicate.
Mustajeer won four of his 19 starts in the UK and Ireland when trained by Ger Lyons and was G1 placed in this year's Tattersalls Gold Cup.
The majority share in the stayer was purchased by Australian Bloodstock before he won his final start for Lyons in the Ebor, the richest staying handicap in the UK, at York on August 24.
The Ebor has become a pivotal lead-up to the spring carnival over the last 15 years. Four of the last five Ebor winners have started in the Melbourne Cup.
Ebor winners to make an impact in Melbourne include Purple Moon (second in the 2007 Melbourne Cup), All Too Good (won the 2008 Caulfield Cup), Heartbreak City (2nd in the 2016 Melbourne Cup) and Nakeeta (fifth in the 2017 Melbourne Cup).
Lees sent his senior stable foreman Cameron Swan to the UK to supervise Mustajeer's preparation for his flight to Australia.
Swan passed on glowing reports but the Newcastle trainer didn't get his first look at Mustajeer until last Wednesday and liked what he saw.
"He's a lovely looking horse," Lees said. "I was very impressed as he has settled in well at Werribee.
"He is a world class stayer and seems quite adaptable. I think he meets all the credentials.
"He'll gallop at Caulfield on the Tuesday before the Caulfield Cup. He will be stabled there to give him the best chance to familiarise himself with the surroundings."
Australian Bloodstock's other top class spring imports Torcedor and Danceteria also leave quarantine at Werribee on Saturday.
Melbourne Cup candidate Torcedor will head to Paul Preusker's property at Horsham while Danceteria's will swing straight into action with a start in the G1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) on Saturday afternoon.
His French trainer David Menuisier is due to arrive in Melbourne this week to supervise his preparation for the Caulfield Stakes that will serve as his lead-up to the $5 million WS Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on October 26.
Preusker has been keeping an eye on Torcedor, an Irish-bred Fastnet Rock 7YO who was placed behind champion UK stayer Stradivarius in the G1 Ascot Gold Cup and G1 Goodwood Cup in 2018.
The dual G3 winner, unplaced in his only two starts this year in Listed races over 2800m in Germany, is set to run in the $8 million Melbourne Cup on November 5 without a local lead-up race.
"I saw him on the Saturday when he arrived and again during the week and he's just ticking over," said Preusker, who is in a strong Melbourne Cup position after the dominant win by his classy Adelaide Cup winner Surprise Baby in Saturday's G3 Bart Cummings at Flemington.
"Werribee is probably a bit different to where he's come from.
"He's probably been a bit restricted so it will be good to get him home and get a bit of work into him on the heavy sand."
Top UK jockey Jamie Spencer is coming to Melbourne to ride Danceteria in the Caulfield Stakes (2000m).
The 39-year-old will also ride Danceteria's stablemate Chief Ironside, also owned by Australian Bloodstock, in the G1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) on Saturday.
Spencer has enjoyed success riding for Australian Bloodstock in the UK and Europe including a G1 win aboard Danceteria in Germany in July, giving Menuisier his first major success since he started training in 2014 after working as John Dunlop's assistant.
Danceteria, by champion Australian sire Redoute's Choice, is also a G3 winner in France and was purchased outright by Australian Bloodstock after the gelding finished fourth behind Enable in the G1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown prior to his G1 win in Germany.
Spencer will also ride the William Haggas-trained Raheen House, yet another Australian Bloodstock-owned import, if he contests Saturday's G2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m).
Australian Bloodstock's Jamie Lovett said a decision on whether Raheen House runs in the Herbert Power would be made after a study of his position on the Caulfield Cup order of entry and whether he needs to chase ballot exemption.
He was purchased by the Australian syndicate before finishing ninth behind Mustajeer in the Ebor at York and will target the Geelong Cup if he doesn't gain a Caulfield Cup start.
Spencer has ridden in three Melbourne Cups since 2013 and won the 2013 Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington on the Andrew Balding-trained Side Glance.