EUROPE'S best stayer Double Trigger has scared off international trainers from the Melbourne Cup on November 7 but one man unconcerned is Hong Kong-based ace, Mick Kinane. In Melbourne yesterday Victoria Racing Club (VRC) racing manager, Les Benton - the man behind the successful ploy to make Australasia's greatest race an international event - was downplaying the fact that only two European-based runners will be involved in the great race. 'I am not disappointed at the number of international entries. Connections tell me [offshore trainers] are wary about trying to beat Double Trigger,' Benton said. Apart from New Zealand, the VRC received 28 international entries this year, 19 from Britain and Ireland, eight from South Africa and one from Malaysia. But only two eventually made the arduous trip from Europe for the A$2 million [US$1.5 million] Melbourne Cup - Britain's Ascot Gold Cup winner Double Trigger and Irish stayer Vintage Crop, the 1993 Melbourne Cup winner. In Hong Kong, Irish champion jockey Kinane, who leaves for Melbourne and another date with racing destiny after the Sunday meeting at Sha Tin on November 5, was buoyant over the latest news from Australia. 'I know that Vintage Crop is really well in himself. He has not done any fast work because we did plenty of that before he left. The most important factor to date is that he travelled really well to Australia. 'It took nothing out of him at all - he just must be getting used to it. He was having a roll in the sand almost as soon as he got to Sandown,' Kinane said.
