Harry Eustace has always been in awe of the Melbourne Cup and what it represents, so his sibling rivalry with his brother David will take a back seat in his quest to win it with Sea King on Tuesday.

Or will it be? Harass Eustace said his younger brother David constantly reminds him how to coach a Melbourne Cup winner.

Dave Eustace, now based in Hong Kong, was Gold Trip’s co-trainer when he won in 2022 with Ciaron Maher.

“As you can well imagine, he’s been very opinionated about what we should do, which has been fantastic. He’s as excited as we are to be in the Melbourne Cup,” joked Harry Eustace.

The Newmarket trainer said the Melbourne Cup had always held an appeal not only for him but for trainers around the world.

“I really can’t believe I have a runner in this, much less one with single-digit odds,” he said.

“It is a career that I have known all my life. I saw Americain win it live while I was working here. From an international point of view, it is a career that is always on everyone’s radar. It’s huge. It is a little bigger than the country it is located in.

“The carnival is celebrated here and the preparation for all the participants is enormous. “We will enjoy it as much as we can.”

Eustace said when he arrived in Australia with Sea King, starting in the Melbourne Cup was a desperate mission considering where he was in the entry order.

“I was thinking the Queen Elizabeth race would be their logical race at Flemington but the field disappeared after the Caulfield Cup and then they won the Bendigo Cup and here we are,” he said.

“I’m dumbfounded to be honest. Having a runner in the Cox Plate with Docklands and then having a runner in the Melbourne Cup. “These are absolute careers that everyone in the industry knows about,” he said.

Eustace said Sea King adapted well to and recovered from quarantine.

“The quarantine reports were good and then he galloped to Docklands at The Valley and looked pretty solid. “Damian Lane gave a good report to win the Bendigo Cup.”

LOOK: Sea King’s victory in the Bendigo Cup

Eustace said Sea King had a tendency to race hard, but believes having a six-day backup in the Melbourne Cup should help overcome that.

He said he wasn’t worried about one’s barrier, saying he can move a little slower anyway.

Eustace said European horses tended to be a little slow when racing in Australia and his team had been working on that.”

“In Bendigo we were aware that European horses can be a step slow. It was a little far away.

Hollie (Doyle) will ride it conservatively anyway. The key to his chances will be his early positioning,” Eustace said.