Joseph O’Brien’s emerging stayer Sons And Lovers has surged into Melbourne Spring Carnival contention with a determined Group 3 victory in Ireland on Thursday night, Australian time.

The four-year-old, trained by the two-time Melbourne Cup winner, captured the Ballyroan Stakes (2414m) at Leopardstown, securing vital qualification for Australia’s greatest staying race.

“Yeah, it absolutely could be,” O’Brien said when asked if a trip to Melbourne was on the cards. “He meets the qualifications now being a Group winner. He had to get placed today to do that.”

O’Brien added that a range of international options were now open: “As well as Melbourne, there’s a number of international races that would potentially suit him through the winter.”

Sons And Lovers, by Study Of Man, is owned by the same syndicate that races Absurde, a two-time Melbourne Cup runner for Willie Mullins.

The Ballyroan has long been a form race for Melbourne, with the likes of Vinnie Roe and Vauban using it as a platform for spring campaigns.

On this occasion, Sons And Lovers beat last year’s winner Crystal Black by half a length, with Siege Of Troy the same margin behind in third.

The gelding had shown promise in Listed and Group company earlier in the year, including a fifth in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot and a placing in the Alleged Stakes behind Caulfield Cup entrant Galen.

“He’s had a couple of very good runs this year,” O’Brien said. “He ran very well at Ascot, and I think as he stretches out in distance, we’ll hopefully see more improvement.”

Nominated for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, his next likely assignment is the Kilternan Stakes (2414m) on September 13, according to O’Brien.

“That would be a logical stepping stone from here, and then we could look at travelling after that,” he said.

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