SportHorse racingMelbourne CupWine Dark Sea landed a gamble at Newbury, with the four-year-old gelding making every yard of the running to set up a possible tilt at the Melbourne Cup15:17, 15 Aug 2026Updated 15:21, 15 Aug 2026Wine Dark Sea dominated from start to finish to land a well-supported punt in the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury and secure a potential crack at the Melbourne Cup on Saturday.‌The four-year-old gelding's owners have recently offloaded a stake to Melbourne Cup winning owners Australian Bloodstock and his triumph under Hector Crouch was sufficient to guarantee a berth in the Flemington showpiece.‌Leading throughout under Crouch, Wine Dark Sea, whose odds tumbled from 13-2 into 7-2, looked comfortable throughout and powered clear in the home straight to beat the late-finishing Tabletalk by a length and a half. William Haggas' 2-1 favourite Dubai Honour was a neck further adrift in third.‌Winning handler Harry Charlton confirmed the Melbourne showpiece was the next target for the progressive four-year-old, with the horse scheduled to enter quarantine on September 9."The intention today was to finish third which would help with the ballot qualification for the Melbourne Cup and he has done more than that," said Charlton. "The Aussies who I'm dealing with were saying finish third and they won't change his handicap mark. It is very different how they do it."‌Wine Dark Sea stormed to convincing victories in handicaps at Ascot and Carlisle earlier in the campaign but could only manage fifth when heavily backed at Newmarket's July meeting.Charlton was minded to attribute that setback to the demands of a testing finish and lengthy trek to the Cumbrian venue. "Although he won on the bridle at Carlisle he broke the track record carrying top weight so you can't have an easy race, particularly travelling eight hours in a heatwave. The 10 days later we just saw a slightly flat horse.Article continues below"My brother (Tom) trains in Australia and has a Melbourne Cup runner as well. I have a team going down with the horse and you train out of the quarantine barn at Ballarat."Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Melbourne CupGeoffrey Freer StakesHeatwaveHorsesNewbury racecourse