Corey Brown on Shocking edges Kerrin McEvoy on Crime Scene to win the 2009 Melbourne Cup.

And they’re off! Owners and trainers from eight countries nominated a bumper crop of 253 runners in the hopes of winning the 150th edition of the Melbourne Cup on Nov. 2.

12-time winner Bart Cummings nominated an even dozen, including the highly rated four-year-olds So You Think (Cox Plate winner), Faint Perfume (VRC Oaks winner), Dariana (Queensland Derby winner), and Rock Classic (Australian Guineas winner).

Three-time winner Lloyd Williams has 20! And that number may rise. Williams may acquire the English stayer Imposing, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, if it passes a veterinary examination. ”I might yet own him,” Williams said. ”He’s a Danehill Dancer horse that was placed at Royal Ascot last month. He’s a horse that interests me quite a bit.”

Racing Victoria Ltd’s racing operations manager Leigh Jordon told The Age that he was delighted with the quality of the overseas nominations, which at 45 represents an increase of six from last year. ”These are definitely the best set of nominations we’ve received from overseas,” Jordon said. ”The quality in the ranks of the Japanese [five entries], Godolphin [nine] and with top-class stayers from the Dermot Weld [three] and Luca Cumani [six] camps points to it being a great race.”

While the rest of the known universe is completely caught up in the first round of the FIFA World Cup, Profound Beauty’s wily Irish trainer is setting his sights on Australia. Known in racing circles as the Irish Raider, the Irish Wizard, the King of Galway, and the Master of Rosewell House, Dermot Weld was the first European trainer to win in Asia, the only international trainer to claim an American Triple Crown victory, and of course the first and only two-time winner of the Melbourne Cup from overseas.

Now, with Profound Beauty, Weld is putting plans together to return Down Under. After her win Weld said, “Profound Beauty is a very good race mare, and she may finish her career in the Melbourne Cup in November.” Watch this man!

Based on the events surrounding Damien Oliver’s dramatic victory in the 2002 Melbourne Cup, The Cup has been anything but a smooth ride for the Emmy Award-winning director .

“I’m glad that we’re up and running because it’s certainly tried my patience a number of times,” Wincer told Encore. The global financial crisis took its tool, and the film’s budget has also taken a hit. It was financed “with great difficulty”, according to Wincer, combining funds from Screen Australia, Village Roadshow, pre-sales, private investors, and the Producer Offset. The entire endeavor has been cash-flowed by Ingenious Media.

Read the entire Encore interview HERE.

Of her owner, he was more effusive. “First of all I am delighted to have trained my first Classic winner for Hamdan Al Maktoum; he has been a very loyal supporter over the years,” said Weld. Knowing the Irish Raider as we all do, it should come as no surprise that he has high hopes for her future:

“Today was the day and we will start looking at the future tomorrow. I will speak to Sheikh Hamdan but I don’t think she is a filly that has to be restricted to a mile. She looks like she will get a mile and a quarter and today she wanted every yard of the Curragh mile.”

Thanks to a wide-ranging list of roles on screen and stage, Gleeson enjoys a vocal following in his native Ireland as well as internationally. The Emmy Award winner, shown here with In Bruges costar Colin Farrell on the red carpet at the 2009 Golden Globes, is best known for the role of Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody in the Harry Potter franchise.

Read more HERE.

The Cajun sensation won the 2007 Run for the Roses on board Street Sense, the 2009 edition on Mine That Bird, and added the 2010 trophy with Super Saver in 2:04.45 to give trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Bill Casner and Kenny Trout their first Kentucky Derby victory.

From The Man From Snowy River to The Lighthorsemen and The Young Black Stallion, Wincer’s ability as a filmmaker to capture the passion and allure of horses is unmatched in Hollywood, but he does admit there are one or two obstacles to recreating the dramatic running of the 2002 Melbourne Cup.

“We’ve got to find the perfect doubles for Media Puzzle, Vinnie Roe, and Pugin,” Wincer says as he singles out the three pre-race favorites. “And just one of each won’t do.”

Not surprisingly, the demands of filming require the all-important racing scenes to be shot several times. Different takes provide different angles on riders and runners, and that can be a tall order when recreating the Melbourne Cup, a taxing two-miler. So casting Media Puzzle, Vinnie Roe, and Pugin will be a challenge in itself. Not that Wincer is the least bit worried. Over a quarter-century ago, he brought the story of Phar Lap to the silver screen, and he is chomping at the bit to get back to Flemington Racecourse.

Wincer and his hand-picked team have already been scouting the Victoria countryside for locations that mimic key elements of the story. “We’ve already found the perfect Rosewell House,” says Wincer. “It’s as green as Ireland, and Dermot would be thrilled to train there.”

VRC deputy chief executive Sue Lloyd-Williams said that the 2010 edition of the Melbourne Cup will be the biggest sporting and social event in the city’s history.

The 2010 trophy, which was crafted from 18-carat gold by Hardy Brothers Jewellers, is patterned after the super-sized 1930 version, which was won by incomparable Phar Lap. The newly minted chalice will travel to 10 international destinations before returning to Australia in August for a 32-city tour.

Oliver, winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup on Media Puzzle and the 1995 Melbourne Cup on Doriemus, will escort the three-handled loving cup to Japan on its first overseas voyage. Additional destinations include Dublin, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Dubai and Auckland.

I’ll have the pleasure of welcoming the Cup to  Los Angeles next week. Wendy Hills, the vivacious and lovely owner of 1999 Melbourne Cup winner Rogan Josh, will shepherd the trophy to the Beverly Hills Hotel where she will no doubt regale my fellow Americans with the amazing story of her celebrated victory.

Other racing legends to be involved in the massive campaign include 12-time Cup winner Bart Cummings, Wendy Green, David Hayes, Lee Freedman, Glen Boss, Sheila Laxon, Roy Higgins, John Letts, John Marshall, and Bob Skelton.

Now a resident of Living Legends at Woodlands Historic Park immediately adjacent to the Melbourne Airport, Doriemus has been spending retirement lounging around with the likes of Saintly, Rogan Josh, Brew, Fields of Omagh, and his old rival Might And Power, who denied Doriemus a second Melbourne Cup in 1997 by the slimmest of margins.

According to Living Legends CEO Andrew Clarke, the 19-year-old is enjoying a steady recovery.

Learn more about Living Legends HERE.