Flemington

Though more than 10,500 miles away, operating in a different hemisphere; the links between the Knavesmire and Flemington are very close. To make the point, in three of the last four pre pandemic renewals of the Lexus Melbourne Cup the Sky Bet Ebor winner has made the top ten. Though the current Covid-19 crisis will add further to the challenge of doing the double in 2021, there have been a couple of near misses in recent times. Both Heartbreak City in 2016 and Purple Moon in 2007, headed down under as champions to find only one better. This year the challenge is picked up by a key player in the G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup. Trained by Andrew Balding, Spanish Mission had already won the G2 Yorkshire Cup in May before being the unlucky one in a memorable duel with Stradivarius. The two courses offer valuable prize money, so it is not easy to land a major prize at either, never mind both. That honour may go to trainers John and Thady Gosden if Gary Barber’s horse can land a second Cup of his campaign. Spanish Mission (l) & Stradivarius yorkracecourse.co.uk