Connections of Irish St Leger hero Sans Frontieres are having second thoughts about a possible Melbourne Cup bid after being handed a stiff rise in the weights for the Flemington showpiece.
Jeremy Noseda's four-year-old secured his third win of the campaign and his first in Group One company at the Curragh on Satu day, staying on strongly in the testing conditions to edge out Profound Beauty.
A trip Down Under has been on the cards for a while but his participation is now in some doubt after he was handed a penalty for the November 2nd handicap.
Barry Simpson, racing manger for owner Sir Robert Ogden, said: "It was Sir Robert's first Group One win, which we were delighted with, and he did it well.
"I think the underfoot conditions didn't help a number of runners, including ourselves, so it became a bit of a slog in the closing stages.
"He looked as though he was in trouble five furlongs out and would be nearer last than first, but he stuck to the task well.
"He seems to have come out of the race fantastically well and was back in his stable on Sunday night.
"We're having a think about Melbourne. He's been penalised two kilos and I think that's quite a considerable rise in the weights.
"I don't think you'd look at Saturday's race and say it was an exhilarating performance and there have been other horses who have won the Irish Leger and not gone up in the handicap for Melbourne.
"Those are the cards we've been dealt though and we're going to have to sit down and see if there are other options open to him.
"We've got until September 23rd before he would have to go into quarantine, so we've got 10 days to make a decision on what we're going to do.
"We haven't even looked at the alternatives because Melbourne was the plan and I'm not saying he's a doubtful, but we need to discuss it now and take a view."
