Leading European stables are investigating establishing satellite stables in either Victoria or NSW, according to Racing Victoria's international recruitment officer Leigh Jordon.
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Jordon said a number of young trainers had expressed interest in establishing businesses in Australia because of the increasing demand for staying horses and the appealing prizemoney.
The man who has overseen the rapid growth of overseas horses coming to Australia believes European trainers now see Australia as a new viable frontier.
"Australia has now become one of the biggest importers of staying-bred horses in the world and some of the trainers, especially the younger ones, can see the benefits of Australian racing. They have asked about the facilities that are on offer and they seemed genuinely keen to have a presence here in Ausralia.
"Up until five years ago Hong Kong was far and away the biggest importer of horses from around the world but Australia has quickly become the next popular market place for European horses.
''We have such a demand now for distance horses that Europe is the go-to spot for filling those demands. It seems that not only Hong Kong but now Australia are prepared to pay handsomely for horses competing in races beyond 1600 metres.''
On Tuesday 29 international horses were entered for the Cox Plate and 44 for the Caulfield Cup.
The health of the Cox Plate and the Caulfield Cup bodes well for the upcoming Melbourne Cup, but according to Jordon the spread of international horses across the spring carnival will be more significant this year than in the past.
"We have young trainers such as Richard Hannon junior, Roger Varian, Charlie Hills and Andrew Balding all seeing the worth of Australian racing and our need for staying horses. They have a plentiful supply of staying horses and now we are very much competing with strong Asian markets for those horses,’’ Jordon said.
"I think when we look back to Vintage Crop and his trainer Dermot Weld, he showed that the world is a smaller place for travelling racehorses to countries all over the world so trainers will now capitlise on the ease of that travel.
"And this has allowed so many European trainers and owners to gain an insight into Australian racing and what our prizemoney levels have to offer.''
The Caulfield Cup has attracted 221 nominations, with the 44 overseas entries up from 20 last year.
The Cox Plate has 225 nominations with 29 international entrants, 17 more than 2013.
Jordon anticipates between four and six international runners will line up in the Caulfield Cup with the expectation of two to four overseas horses in the weight-for-age Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.
Overseas entries were received from France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Ireland and the UK.
Hong Kong-based Singapore International Cup winner Dan Excel is already in Sydney to build up for a shot at the Cox Plate.
The No.1 horse on Jordon’s wishlist for the Cox Plate is the William Haggas-trained Mukhadram, winner of this year’s group 1 Eclipse Stakes.
‘‘He’s rated 123 and would be the top-rated international horse out of the Cox Plate noms,’’ Jordon said.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has nominated four horses for the Cox Plate, including last year’s Breeder’s Cup Turf winner Magician.
