Avilius to make his next appearance at Flemington

The in-form import Avilius is to head to Melbourne to continue a preparation aimed at the G1 Melbourne Cup.

Trainer James Cummings announced on Tuesday that the G3 Bart Cummings at Flemington on 6 October would be Avilius’s next mission.

“We feel that giving Avilius a look at Flemington with the hope of gaining a start in the Melbourne Cup is the right way to go with the horse,” Cummings said.

“We discussed this as a team and are confident this is the best lead up to the Cup and we are all extremely excited to be going down this path.”

Avilius is unbeaten in three starts in Australia, the most recent of them last Saturday’s G3 Kingston Town Stakes.

While Avilius is yet to race beyond 2000m in Australia, he has a G2 second placing behind the class galloper Cracksman over 2400m to his credit in France.

His performance at Randwick on Saturday suggests that the Bart Cummings, at 2500m, is an ideal stepping stone to the Melbourne Cup, run over 3,200m at Flemington on 6 November.