The last group of international entries for the Melbourne spring carnival are in their final day of quarantine at Newmarket in the UK prior to their flight to Australia.

The group are scheduled to depart for Melbourne from Heathrow on Thursday and land at Tullamarine on Saturday.

International Racehorse Transport’s Jim Paltridge reported that all horses have passed their required tests with no problems with the final influenza results due back today.

“We will be good to go once we get those flu results back,” he said.

The horses in quarantine at Newmarket will be joined at Heathrow by Aidan O’Brien’s contingent who have done their two weeks at Coolmore’s own quarantine facility in Ireland.

The notable absentee from the O'Brien team will be Melbourne Cup second favourite Order Of St George due to concerns about a firm track at Flemington.

O'Brien stated that the three horses he will be sending are Highland Reel, Bondi Beach and Kingfisher as they are better suited to the firmer tracks in Melbourne.

Highland Reel is to target the Cox Plate while Bondi Beach and Kingfisher are set for the Melbourne Cup.

Last year's Cox Plate-winning rider Ryan Moore has been booked to partner Highland Reel.

“The Coolmore horses will come over from Ireland on a chartered flight and join the rest of the group before leaving England,” Paltridge said.

“We’ve had some really good weather over the last few weeks which makes things much easier for everyone.

“Everybody has respected the Australian bio-security measures, which are very strict and can be unusual for staff here, who are not used to working with influenza restrictions, for example.

“They have all been very professional throughout and we are very grateful for that.

“We are delighted that everything has gone well from a training perspective.”

A number of the Melbourne entries worked on the Limekilns gallop on Tuesday including the three Godolphin hopefuls Secret Number, Sky Hunter and Elhaame.

They were joined by Arod, Big Orange, Lips Areios and Magic Artist.