First the Loch Ness Monster, now the Melbourne Cup?

Ben Dorries - Sunday October 15

Scotland has had Braveheart and the Loch Ness Monster but has never had a runner in Melbourne's spring racing carnival.

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Nakeeta will be more famous in Scotland than the Loch Ness monster if Iain Jardine's stayer wins the Melbourne Cup

Until now.

Draped in the British Union Jack, the Iain Jardine trained Nakeeta arrived in Melbourne on Saturday and is likely to do some light work at Werribee on Monday morning.

Nakeeta, a $41 Melbourne Cup prospect, won the Ebor Handicap in August and is aiming to plot a similar path to last year's Ebor winner Heartbreak City.

Heartbreak City came within a neck of winning the Melbourne Cup last year when the Irish gelding ran second behind Almandin.

Jardine told the Daily Mail in the UK he had taken heart from Heartbreak City's huge performance in the 2016 Melbourne Cup.

"Heartbreak City nearly won the Melbourne Cup last year, we have the same weight (53kg) and we won the Ebor in a slightly faster time," Jardine said.

Nakeeta, the first horse trained in Scotland set to compete in the spring carnival, was one of five international horses that arrived in Melbourne on Saturday. The other four were Irish gallopers.

Joining Nakeeta at Racing Victoria's Werribee International Horse Centre were the Joseph O'Brien trained duo US Army Ranger and Rekindling, as well as Willie Mullins' pair Max Dynamite and Thomas Hobson.

Rekindling, owned by Lloyd Williams, will be the first spring carnival runner for O'Brien who is the son of Aidan O'Brien.

Aidan O'Brien had a good day on Saturday with Irish horse Johannes Vermeer zooming into Caulfield and Melbourne Cup contention with a fast finishing second behind Gailo Chop in the Group I Ladbrokes Stakes.

The latest crop of internationals will do some light work on Monday but nothing serious until next week.

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