Racing Post senior writer Lee Mottershead provides a pen portrait of the animals hoping to show the marathon journey was more than worth making.

Vauban - Willie Mullins

He was the horse almost everyone seemed confident was poised to win last year's Lexus Melbourne Cup. The fact he returns 12 months on from the disappointment of 2023 serves to underline how much faith Willie Mullins had in the horse then and how much faith he has in the horse now.

Lessons have been learned. Vauban this time arrived in the second shipment of European horses having last year landed in the opening draft. Yet while he came to Melbourne later, Mullins has arrived sooner. Encouragingly, he seems to like what he has seen. He also likes Vauban's big-race weight.

Rich and Susannah Ricci's former Cheltenham Festival winner has had a much busier campaign in Britain and Ireland compared to last year. None of his five performances has quite hit the ratings heights of his runaway Royal Ascot triumph but the Lonsdale Cup win and Irish St Leger second to the world's best stayer Kyprios represent excellent form.

The Vauban we saw thundering around Flemington seven days before last season's Melbourne Cup might well have lifted the Cup. If he enters the stalls on November 5 in that same sparkling form, the joy of capturing Australia's greatest race might prove to have been simply a pleasure slightly deferred for Mullins, the Riccis and Vauban's many backers.

Onesmoothoperator - Brian Ellison

The lifelong dream of trainer Brian Ellison had been winning the Northumberland Plate (3,200 metres), one of Britain's most important marathon handicaps. Following years of frustration, Onesmoothoperator made Ellison's dream come true. Based on what we saw in the Geelong Cup, an even bolder, bigger dream might now be realised.

When Ellison saw how easily Onesmoothoperator was travelling on the final bend of the Plate, he said to the person next to him that the horse was going to win with style. That prediction proved accurate.

The Newcastle victory was at that point a new personal best for Onesmoothoperator, yet he built on it with a solid effort off a higher rating in the Ebor and a pleasing staying-on fourth in a Kempton 2,400-metre Group 3.

Ellison's stable star loves to follow a strong pace and possesses a touch of class. That latter quality was screamingly obvious at Geelong, where Craig Williams received a handsome response when popping the question. If he can build on that, Onesmoothoperator has a definite chance of becoming Britain's second Lexus Melbourne Cup champion.

Absurde - Willie Mullins

It seems hard to believe Absurde was sent off at a bigger price to win a handicap hurdle at this year's Cheltenham Festival than he was when running in last year's Lexus Melbourne Cup. Should he win the Cup at the second attempt, it will be anything but hard to believe.

The Cheltenham success came in the County Hurdle, one of the most scaldingly hot handicaps of the British jumps season. Absurde won it with bags of class and authority. The same was true back on the Flat when he saluted in a Chester Listed event on the final day of August.

Racing Post Ratings indicate the Chester win was every bit as good as Absurde's success in the 2023 Ebor. That, in itself, makes him interesting for this year's Lexus Melbourne Cup, particularly as he now has slightly less weight to carry. Expect him to be ridden with more patience than in 2023 and therefore also expect him to finish more strongly.

Absurde might be Willie Mullins' second string but he is undoubtedly one of this Lexus Melbourne Cup's leading players.

Kinesiology - Chris Waller

Here's a tempting Lexus Melbourne Cup contender - that might well be the 2025 Cup, but this former Irish stayer is likely to be worth the wait.

A career record of one win from seven starts is deceiving, not least because Kinesiology was also first past the post in the Listed Vinnie Roe Stakes only to then lose the race following a stewards' room verdict that could have gone either way.

That Leopardstown contest is often a decent race but it represents just one of many strong pieces of form this northern hemisphere-bred three-year-old has posted. At Gowran Park in late July he got to within half a length of The Euphrates, who since then has finished a fine fourth to Kyprios in the Irish St Leger and won the 30-runner Irish Cesarewitch. Most recently, Kinesiology finished an excellent second in a Leopardstown 2,400-metre Group 3 in which he tried to lead from start to finish. The winner of that race, Trustyourinstinct, has been earmarked for international Group 1 missions.

As a son of Study Of Man and a Sea The Stars mare, Kinesiology's breeding screams stamina but he also has enough pace to be competitive over middle distances.

There could be plenty of improvement in him and, as such, he is one to watch. Chris Waller has inherited a colt from Jessica Harrrington who could well flourish in Australia.

Sea King - Harry Eustace

Having raced 18 times, Sea King could hardly be called unexposed, but his former trainer, Sir Mark Prescott, is famously patient with horses, so it's not inconceivable this stoutly-bred son of Sea The Stars could progress beyond what he has so far achieved.

There was certainly lots to like about the way he plugged on to take sixth in the Ebor, particularly as he had been keen through the early stages. That represented his stiffest test to date and confirmed earlier impressions that stepping up to 3,200 metres should be helpful, providing he settles.

Sea King is a strong traveller who appears to have benefited for the application of headgear. He will be staying in Australia after the spring carnival.

Birdman - Chris Waller

Jessica Harrington knew Birdman was going to be green prior to his belated racecourse debut over 2,400 metres at Cork in late April. She was right. He was extremely green that day and when described by his trainer as "a great big baby" after securing Listed honours on only his second outing at Navan.

From there it was on to the Queen's Vase (2,800 metres) at Royal Ascot, where Birdman's immaturity once again showed. He finished third but got caught out wide and was better than his two-length third to Illinois might suggest.

His subsequent performance in the Leopardstown Listed prize in which then stable companion Kinesiology finished first past the post was too bad to be true. Indeed, the two horses are very closely matched on a previous piece of collateral form.

Birdman will get better with time and racing. How good he might get is anyone's guess but the manner in which he weakened out of the Geelong Cup on his debut for Chris Waller suggests it may be the autumn before this import starts to thrive.

Sayedaty Sadaty - Ciaron Maher

You do not finish fifth in the Derby at Epsom unless you're a good horse. It was an effort that persuaded Australian Bloodstock to swoop for a northern hemisphere three-year-old who can easily be forgiven his down-the-field effort in the Caulfield Cup.

There must, however, be a chance Sayedaty Sadaty's best days in Australia will come beyond this year's Melbourne Cup Carnival. As a son of stamina influence Anodin, he was always likely to progress with time, while his four-length third to Jan Brueghel at Glorious Goodwood, although a little shy of the Epsom form, confirmed him to be a solid Group-class performer.