Spanish Mission leads the charge for Spring Carnival international runners

Six international entries remain in contention for the Lexus Melbourne Cup following the first stage of forfeits for Australia's Spring Carnival.

The Andrew Balding-trained Spanish Mission, who narrowly lost out to Stradivarius in last month's Lonsdale Cup, could line up against last year's winner Twilight Payment for trainer Joseph O'Brien, who also has Master Of Reality in contention.

Goodwood Cup runner-up Away He Goes, Rodrigo Diaz and Ebor winner Sonnyboyliston complete the overseas line-up for the A$8 million race.

Stricter entry requirements have led to international nominations being cut in half for the Melbourne Cup, including notable absences from Charlie Appleby, Saeed bin Suroor and Aidan O'Brien, who entered 20 horses between them for the past two runnings of the race.

The concerns surrounding more stringent veterinary checks and travel restrictions have also dramatically hit entries for the Caulfield Cup.

Only Spanish Mission and the Australian Bloodstock part-owned Rodrigo Diaz remain as international representatives for October's A$5m race.

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At this stage last year 12 overseas runners remained in contention for the Group 1 handicap, in which there may be no international raiders for the first time since 2004 if Spanish Mission and Rodrigo Diaz are still confined to quarantine in mid-October.

To be able to run in the Caulfield Cup on October 16 the pair would have to enter quarantine by September 9 for arrival in Australia on September 25, one of two international flights ahead of the Spring Carnival.

The two runners are expected to arrive instead on October 12, three weeks ahead of the Melbourne Cup on November 2.

International runners filled the first three places in the Melbourne Cup last year, with Twilight Payment getting the better of Tiger Moth and the recently retired Prince Of Arran.

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