His flamboyant owner Marwan Koucash, who owned Melbourne Cup placegetter Mount Athos, tweeted after the win: Melbourne here we come. The dream is alive.

This followed his win two weeks ago in the Chester Cup. Koucash bought him before these two wins as a potential Melbourne Cup horse.

Magic Circles trainer Ian Williams said the Melbourne Cup is the priority for Magic Circle but he said hes surprised by how well he is racing after his six length win.

English betting company BetVictor halved his odds from $40 to $20 for the Melbourne Cup. TAB fixed odds introduced him to their market at $41 after the win.

It has taken me aback a little. I didnt think winning a Chester Cup would be beyond him, but I thought it would be tough. What he has achieved today has really announced him as a stayer on the big scene, Williams said.

It was our plan to come here and we hoped to be placed and look at going to the Melbourne Cup with him, and that still remains our number one target. What we do between now and then has probably changed a little around today.
He said they would consider paying a late entry for the Gold Cup at Ascot next month.

Im not sure what we will do with him, but the options are open. He looks on performance a far better stayer than we could have imagined he would be.

Koukash, who bought Magic Circle before the Chester Cup, tweeted Melbourne remained a priority but the option to run in the Gold Cup at Ascot would be considered. .

This the reply of the Chester Cup .

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Magic Circle (IRE)
Age: 6 (Foaled May 1st, 2012)
Sex: Bay Gelding
Breeding: Makfi - Minkova (IRE) (Sadler's Wells (USA))
Trainer: Ian Williams
Owner: Dr Marwan Koukash

Now we go back to Sadlers wells, northern Dancer,

we also look at The danehill Dancer cross

Ronald His win in the Gold Cup was Outstanding and yes he would be a chance on that run if they come south .

Frankie Dettori got the best tune out of Stradivarius to came out on top in a pulsating finish to the Group I Gold Cup (2m4f) at Ascot when holding French champion Vazirabad.

Torcedor in the Te Akau tangerine led around the home turn with Ryan Moore already hard at work aboard the 7/4 equal favourite Order Of St George, Stradivarius still tucked away on the inside and Vazirabad being waited with by Christophe Soumillon.

Torcedor found plenty but was joined by Stradivarius on his outside with Vazirabad coming through between them, drawing level inside the final furlong but it was Stradivarius (7/4 eq. fav) which did best to score by three-quarters of a length over Vazirabad (9/2) with Torcedor (14/1) a head away third.

Order of St George (7/4 eq. fav) was beaten four lengths into fourth after being mulish at the start.

It was the first win in the race for trainer John Gosden.

"It was an extraordinary race. Frankie said they didn't go that quick, and his heels were definitely down early on, which meant the horse was taking him on, Gosden said.

"Frankie got himself out of a pocket, which was essential with the pacemaker coming back, and got himself in the perfect position. But as usual, Mr Soumillon was waiting like all good Frenchman to pounce late and frustrate us.

"What an exciting finish that was - and look at the line-up as they headed to the line. That's a pretty smart front four.

"It was a fascinating tactical race, because if Frankie had gone too soon there was the danger that Vazirabad would nail him - if he had committed to kill off a rival at the furlong pole the French could have come along to collect the prize so he had to be careful of that.

A son of Sea The Stars, Stradivarius is now in line to collect the 1m WH Stayers Million bonus if he is successful in either the Goodwood Cup or the Lonsdale Stakes at York.

He's a proper little staying horse that we call Mighty Mouse because he's not very big - he looks a bit like a mini Trigger with his four white feet, but he is a gorgeous horse. Gosden said.

Alain de Royer Dupre was philosophical about Vazirabads effort.

"When Vazirabad got to the front, he stopped. He doesn't like to be in front too long," de Royer Dupre said.

"He was touched two or three times by the winner and after that, he refused to give the maximum. He can have a long career as he only does the minimum.

"Christophe rode him well and he couldn't have waited any longer. I'm very pleased with the run."

On his Breeding he has the Sadler's wells Green desert cross which is very prolific on staying lines
He is defiantly on the Watch list .

This is the replay of the 2018 Gold Cup 2miles and 2 furlong.

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I really like this horse, his last win was super and a the cup would suit him.. Order of St George would have won three cups if they bought him out and the form behind him each year stacks up come our spring!! if you remember last years winner was just under 4 lengths behind OSG before he came. Granted OSG might not be going as well but the horse who finished top 3 in that race must be considered genuine contenders if they come..
im already on Stradivarius at $61!!

The negative...I spoke to someone over in England connected to another horse who is coming and he doesn't seem to rate the horse nor does he think he will come
saying that this blokes has been wrong many times before

One also must check on the New Zealand contingent i am sure we can find something there Murray Baker will have something he will be bringing over, so we can all get a early quid in the weaker race's.

OSG wont be coming mate, he is over the top now but if he did he would have won the last three!! he is better then anything Lloyd has ever bought out here and had panels on Rekindling when they raced.

And it could be a horse not even listed in Cup betting that emerges as his best hope of going one better than Max Dynamite, who ran second to Prince Of Penzance in 2015 when Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win Chelkar, a lightly raced five-year-old owned locally by Terry Hendersons OTI racing, had its first start for Mullins during the recent Royal Ascot carnival.

The gelding, who spent almost two years out of racing due to injury, ran fourth behind another Mullins runner, Logostovegas, which could also find its way to Melbourne.

On the back of that run, Chelkar has been installed as favourite for the Ebor Handicap (2800m), Europes richest handicap race, which will be run at York on August 25.

Mullins claimed the Ebor with Sesanta in 2009.

Chelkar is expected to have at least another run at Galway before then and while a Cup start is not guaranteed, he will be coming to Australia.Mullins has placed in the Cup twice, both times with Max Dynamite who ran third last year behind Rekindling and Johannes Vermeer, and he could return for a fourth attempt.

He has probably missed his chance but hes good enough to go there, Mullins said.

The prizemoney ($7.3 million) is so good and if youre qualified to run I often think you should run. If youre not in you cant win.Connections of Chelkar are very happy with his progress and Mullins said the gelding had a massive upside given hes had just five starts.

Once he gets going with a run or two under his belt I think hell show huge improvement, Mullins said.

You dont know how much horses will improve until they get a few runs.

Mullins could also bring back Thomas Hobson, who ran sixth in last years Cup and is currently rated a $51 TAB chance.

You need stamina but you need class as well (to win). Max had most of that, Thomas could still produce it I think. We havent seen the best of him yet, Mullins said.

We did a little back surgery with him and we think its made a difference. Hopefully that will show itself in his next run or two, otherwise we wont be seeing him.

Mullins said Wicklow Brave, who has had two Cup runs and finished 10th in last years race, would probably not return this year.

Corey Brown has only just arrived in Britain for Saturday's Shergar Cup but regardless of events at Ascot he will not be flying home empty-handed after landing the Melbourne Cup ride aboard leading hope Magic Circle.

Brown, 42, who won his country's biggest race with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Rekindling last year, will take over from regular rider Fran Berry aboard Magic Circle, as Berry is unable to carry the low weight required for the Group 1 handicap.

The Ian Williams-trained six-year-old, who is generally 20-1 for the Cup, is set to tackle 'the race that stops the nation' following impressive six-length victories in the Chester Cup and the Henry II Stakes at Sandown.

Brown said: "Paul Webster [jockeys' agent] has sent through a few replays of him, and I just love the way he hit the line in his last run.

"He's going to come into the race off a light weight. Paul also works with Zac Purton, and last year he suggested to ride the first [Rekindling] and the third [Max Dynamite], so his judgement is pretty good."

He added: "The races are run differently, we hold them up and let them sprint home. With this horse [Magic Circle] I really liked how quickly he could accelerate. We both like what we saw with this horse so it made sense to grab the opportunity quickly.

"For him to make the call this early out surprised me a little bit, but he was happy enough to take it and I'm happy enough to ride him."

David Hayes will give Jaameh the opportunity to qualify for the Melbourne Cup after a solid win in the opening race at Flemington.

Ridden by Regan Bayliss, Jaameh settled at the rear of the field in the 2500-metre contest and was the strongest to the line, easily accounting for his rivals, with My Nordic Hero second and Kilimanjaro third.

Jaameh has only had three runs in Australia, with his effort at Headquarters his second victory, and now Hayes is eyeing The Bart Cummings as a race that could see him qualify for the Melbourne Cup.

"He will head to The Bart Cummings and get qualified, that is the way we are definitely going to go and definitely a run in between," he said.

"He has got similar formline to a horse like Tawqeet, who started favourite (in the Melbourne Cup) one year, and won a Caulfield Cup, and I think he has improved out here, with a bit of sun on his back he has improved a length or two.

"It was a really good staying performance.

"I loved the way he took the extra furlong to pull up, with stayers heading to longer races, I always look at how quickly they stop.

"We were really hopeful today, it ended up a truly-run race, it was a good test I thought it was quite a dominant performance."

He's won three of the past six Melbourne Cups and a record six in total but owner Lloyd Williams may struggle to continue his charmed run in the great race with setbacks announced for both his stars of last spring.

Williams confirmed on Wednesday that 2017 Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling and the race runner-up Johannes Vermeer may only make it to Australia at the tail-end of the Spring Carnival after suffering setbacks.

Rekindling would have been the main Danger to Magic Circle