All roads lead to the Emirates Melbourne Cup for Sky Hunter following a most encouraging return to action at Newbury on Saturday.

Making his first appearance since winning a Group Two at Meydan in early March, the Godolphin-owned five-year-old performed admirably in the rain-softened ground to fill the runner-up spot behind The Corsican in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup, finishing ahead of King George second Eagle Top.

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor expects his charge to improve for his first outing in over six months and is looking forward to a trip Down Under.

He said: "I was very happy with him (on Saturday) and he has come out of the race in good form.

"The plan is to take him to Australia for the Melbourne Cup.

"Hopefully that will be his next race."