As we head into the spring attention turns towards the internationally trained horses bound for our shores.

Nominations for the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate have just been released and as expected they feature a healthy representation from several of the worlds top racing nations.

Assuming, as we do, that all good things to come out of New Zealand are adopted as Australian, internationals account for roughly 20-percent of Caulfield Cup nominations and among them are several interesting candidates.

As could be expected, the Caulfield Cup is following in its big brother’s footsteps, with international runners, and success, on its way to becoming commonplace. It is now the turn of the Cox Plate to capitalise on the international successes of both Cups.

However, the Cox Plate is a bit different, and faces a much stiffer task to gain interest from further abroad than just over the Tasman as it chases international runners of a higher quality.

That has not proved easy for the MVRC, as evidenced by the fact that just 15* internationally trained horses have taken part in the race in the last 20 years.

Well over 70 have contested the Melbourne Cup in the same period.

While internationals make up 13-percent of nominations for the 2014 Cox Plate in what is seen as a positive result, the real task, to get them to Moonee Valley on race day, is still ahead.

“Both the quantity and quality of international entries received for the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate is a mark of the respect and interest that the Spring Racing Carnival and our premier racing now commands on the world stage,” said Racing Victoria’s International Recruitment Officer Leigh Jordon on announcing the nominations.

Jordon has done a terrific job in raising the quality and quantity of international interest in the spring but despite that it would appear that the Cox Plate is unlikely to get a multicultural makeover that is now common place for the Melbourne Cup, any time soon.

The prized entrant Mukhadram, with a Timeform rating of 128, would be as highly regarded as any international to contest the race bar Grandera in 2002, but with options aplenty nearer to home he would seem less likely than likely to attend.

Irish nominations Magician and Trading Leather are in a similar boat.

Below them is a host of runners with Timeform ratings that place them on a similar footing to the locals, and that includes Hong Kong-based Dan Excel, who looks the only real international with a legitimate winning hope.

Dan Excel does compare well with what we have seen in the past.

He has good International Group 1 form in the book, has already touched down in Australia to be set for the race by a marvellous trainer in John Moore, and with a Timeform rating of 123 he sits above the average of prior internationals to take on the Cox Plate at 120.

But that rating of 123 sits below what is typically required to win a Cox Plate and the record of his predecessors hardly makes for great reading.

Not one of the 15 internationals has been able to replicate their best form around the cauldron that is The Valley.

In fact, on average, the internationals have run around 5.2 lengths below expectation in the Cox Plate with Grandera’s 2002 third the clear highlight for the visiting side.

International runners have beaten home just 31-percent of their rivals in the Cox Plate overall.

(see table below)

Hardly inspiring stuff and well down on the levels of success that they have tasted in the Cups.

The obvious of travel aside – it’s not easy taking highly-strung thoroughbreds around the globe – one of the reasons for this may be the unique Moonee Valley circuit.

Speed and perhaps more importantly acceleration is required to get around the tight-turning course without running into traffic problems. Even a high-class galloper like Grandera had a few problems negotiating the course.

Memories of Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star duelling down the back straight live long in some memories but just one (Ocean Park’s Cox Plate in 2012) of the last 10 renewals have been run harder to the 600m mark than from that point to home, with averages showing that the field tends to quicken over the last 600m by around 1 metre per second.

With speed the asset commonly seen as the Australian thoroughbred’s biggest weapon this hardly plays into the hands of the international raiders which could explain why overseas trainers prefer to stay put as the majority of the internationals with these assets have a plethora of opportunities closer to home.

One thing that is worth noting is that while only 7 of the 15 internationals would have been considered a genuine winning hope going into the race based on Timeform ratings, it is a small number of observations and is hardly concrete evidence that the internationals are doomed to fail at The Valley.

As international representation increases it is likely that the Cox Plate will in time go the way of the visiting brigade, but for now it seems more likely that the Cox Plate will remain predominantly a contest between those on either side of the Tasman, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Internationals In The Cox Plate

Approx margin below expected performance and % of rivals beaten

*Includes Grey Swallow who came from Ireland to run in the Cox Plate for Dermot Weld but changed hands prior to the race and technically ran for Dale Sutton.