Classy Irish mare Profound Beauty further improved her chances of making the 2010 Melbourne Cup final field this November with a win in the Listed Challenge Stakes (2800m) at Leopardstown yesterday.

Trained by premier English trainer Dermot Weld, already a dual Melbourne Cup winning trainer having seen success in the famous Flemington feature with Vintage Crop (1993) and Media Puzzle (2002), Profound Beauty coasted to an emphatic victory to secure her third successive Challenge Stakes win yesterday.

Starting as the odds-on favourite and ridden by Pat Smullen, Profound Beauty defeated Drumfire by five and a half lengths with Unity in third.

Weld is now looking at the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks (2400m) or the Group 1 Irish St Leger (2800m), where she would race against stablemate and fellow Melbourne Cup hopeful Rite Of Passage, as the next target for Profound Beauty as part of her Melbourne Cup preparation.

Six-year-old Danehill mare Profound Beauty, potentially retiring racing for a career as a broodmare next year, placed fifth to the Bart Cummings-trained Viewed in the 2008 Melbourne Cup and if she is amongst the 24-horse final field for this year’s $6 million Melbourne Cup will likely face another star from Cummings’ stables in Faint Perfume.

Rising Shamardal filly Faint Perfume is the current pre-nomination favourite for the 2010 Melbourne Cup following her impressive autumn campaign and is Cummings’ best chance of securing his record 13^th Melbourne Cup win.

Melbourne Cup nominations close in August and this is when [sportsbet] will open their Cup betting markets.

We will be the first to publish the list of nominated horses and then the form of the Melbourne Cup final field in October so bookmark this page.

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