Goodie Two Shoes was the best of the international brigade in the 2025 Melbourne Cup, running second to Half Yours, and Joseph O'Brien has nominated the Irish stayer again for 2026. The O'Brien yard knows exactly how to win this race — Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020) both carried the colours to Cup glory.
O'Brien has entered 11 horses for the 2026 Cup, more than any other trainer, and a runner-up returning with that experience is always a live threat. The variables are the usual ones for the raiders: travel, quarantine at Werribee, the handicap he receives, and the strength of O'Brien's own hand — with Defiantly and James J Braddock also in the mix, the stable could yet shuffle its cards.