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HONG KONG champion River Verdon may run in November's Melbourne Cup following his history-making Triple Crown success at Sha Tin yesterday.

 The Victorian Racing Club (VRC), which runs Australia's greatest race, have made approaches to connections of the Hong Kong champion and he looks certain to be entered for the race which is televised and bet on annually here.

 River Verdon's total domination of Hong Kong racing was ruthlessly underlined yesterday when he won the $2.75 million, 2,200-metre Champions and Chater Cup by four and a quarter lengths taking the Triple Crown for the first time.

 He had previously won the Stewards' Cup in November and the Gold Cup in March, collecting an extra $500,000 bonus for his owners.

 River Verdon was given a faultless ride by Australian jockey John Marshall, who knows what it takes to win a Melbourne Cup.

 ''I am aware of possible plans for him to run at Flemington and all I can say is that it is very exciting. I have had horses placed in the Cup and I have no hesitation in saying that River Verdon has what it takes,'' said Marshall.

 ''I have said before that I believe he is up to good Group company in Australia and at the end of the day the Melbourne Cup is a handicap,'' said Marshall.

 The VRC's forward-thinking racing secretary, Les Benton, is the man immediately behind the move to entice River Verdon to Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.

 It was Benton and his European co-ordinator, former Hong Kong racing journalist Jim McGrath, who organised the appearances of winner Vintage Crop and Drum Taps in last November's race.

 From London, McGrath said: ''At the moment we expect to have Vintage Crop definitely back again and probably another two European challengers.

 ''But Les and the VRC are keen to make the race as international as possible and River Verdon is a prime target. We are all fully aware of just how good the horse is and there is no doubt that he would be a definite chance in the race on his best form.

 ''There are too many good judges who have said he is European Group Two or One standard for them all to be wrong. And it would be a lot easier for River Verdon going to Melbourne from Hong Kong than Vintage Crop from Ireland.''  Joint-owner Ronnie Arculli, celebrating the superb Champions and Chater Cup triumph in the Stewards' box, confirmed a definite interest in a Melbourne assault - but no quick decision would be made.

 ''It is something that would have to be very carefully thought out because straightaway we would have to miss the International Races here in December.

 ''There was an offer for us to go to Japan for yesterday's race there but that was never on because we did want to win the Triple Crown, that has never been done before.

 ''But this could be different. It is over two miles and he hasn't done that before but it is, of course, a handicap and River Verdon has shown himself to be better than that,'' said Arculli.

 One person Arculli will consult in the next couple of weeks is a trainer who knows all about winning the Melbourne Cup - Irish champion Dermot Weld.

 Arculli and Weld have been friends for some time and the Jockey Club Steward said yesterday: ''He told me from the very start that we had an exceptional horse and was particularly emphatic after we won the Invitation Cup beating his Prudent Manner.

 ''I will have a word with Dermot about it,'' he added.

 Trainer David Hill, whose masterly handling of River Verdon has seen the seven-year-old gelding rise to unprecedented heights locally, will also weigh up the advantages or otherwise of a tilt at the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup.

 ''It is a very exciting prospect and I would not be overly worried about the distance. He is an out and out stayer and half of those who take part in the Melbourne Cup can't run it out anyway.

 ''This was a magnificent win today and he hardly came off the bit to do it. He has never raced better and he probably needs something like the Melbourne Cup now to test him.

 ''It will all have to be very carefully thought out and everything taken into consideration,'' he said.

 The Melbourne Cup is not an invitation race and River Verdon can be entered at the same time as horses from all over Australia, New Zealand and those who may take the lead from Vintage Crop in Europe.

 Entries close on August 1 but River Verdon is assured of a run because of the VRC interest. He would be weighted to ensure a start - but not weighted out of contention. It was Vintage Crop's eventual Melbourne Cup weight that made Weld so keen to start the Irish St Leger winner last November.

 The major hurdle facing River Verdon could be quarantine procedures. These were relaxed for Vintage Crop but it remains to be seen how co-operative Australian Government vets would be with a horse coming from Asia.

 The Jockey Club would be 100 per cent behind the initiative - not least because it would see their totalisator turnover boosted enormously.

 For the past three years the Jockey Club have run a ''mini meeting'' centred on the 3,200-metre Cup and the simulcast turnover has been good. But with River Verdon running - and having a realistic chance - business would boom.

 The only other logical overseas target for River Verdon is the Japan Cup, run in late November. That is an invitation race.



Triple Crown sits proudly on king of Hong Kong turf