Al Riffa aiming to head to Melbourne on a high in Leger

Al Riffa may already be among the bookmakers favourite for the Melbourne Cup, but he will first bid to sign off on home soil with victory in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger.

The five-year-old has long been a high-class performer for Joseph O’Brien and added another string to his bow when stretching out successfully to this course and distance in the Curragh Cup.

That victory brought a trip to Flemington in November into range, but before that his handler believes he will need “close to a career best” to claim a third success at the highest level.

“He’s coming off a course-and-distance win and he’s prepared well for the race,” said O’Brien.

“The ground will be as close to the worst he has faced for a while but we think he will cope with that. It looks a very good renewal of the Leger and it will probably take close to a career best to win it, but he is also probably the one they have to beat.

“He’s a multiple Group One winner and it would be great to finish the summer with another one and then he will go into quarantine ahead of Australia pretty soon after this race, all being well.”

The Owning Hill handler saw his second string, Leinster, put his hat in the ring for this race with a course-and-distance triumph last month, with the improving four-year-old now tested at the highest level.

O’Brien added: “He was impressive in the St Leger trial and is a progressive horse.

“That was a career best and we think the ground being on the softer side won’t be something that will inconvenience him. We’re looking forward to the race with him.”

A major threat to the O’Brien duo is his father Aidan’s Illinois, who arrives having finished second in both the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and Goodwood equivalent when second to Scandinavia.

There is also a strong pairing making the trip from Britain with Karl Burke saddling the consistent Al Qareem and Ralph Beckett sending over the unbeaten Amiloc.

It will be the first time the latter will tackle the one-mile-six-furlong distance with his connections set for a “learning day” at the Curragh.

Patrick Cooper, racing manager for owners David and Vimy Aykroyd, said: “It’s a Group One and a proper race and we’re wanting to know if he’s a Cup horse or a mile-and-a-half horse. This will tell us much more about that and which direction we should be heading in.

“It looks like it will be fairly soft at the Curragh on Sunday and that is ground he has never been on, so we’ll find out about that as well. It will be a learning day at all angles.

“If he wasn’t a gelding he would be running in the St Leger at Doncaster, but we are really keen to find out which direction we should be going in.”

Amiloc was last seen taking his record to a perfect five out of five when getting the better of Johnny Murtagh’s Zahrann at Royal Ascot and with the form of that race subsequently boosted by the runner-up, a strong showing on Sunday could open the door for some overseas adventures later this autumn.

Cooper added: “Johnny thinks a lot of his horse and was surprised he got beat at Ascot – they have the Arc in mind for him.

“The plan, if he does well on Sunday, is to go for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. That would be back down in trip but the hope is he will be one of these nice horses you can go up and down in distance and be flexible with.

“First though, we need to find out if he goes on soft ground and also if he stays a mile and six, which we will do on Sunday.”