(ANDREW BENSLEY is one of Sky Racing's and Sky Sports Radio's leading commentators.)

During the past 10 to 15 years that international horses have been venturing down under and running in the BMW Caulfield Cup, there only have been two winners, Taufan's Melody back in 1998 and All The Good two years ago.

The burning question is, will they improve on that record this year?

OTI Racing bought Manighar back in January from the Aga Khan and immediately gave the horse to trainer Luca Cumani to prepare for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Terry Henderson of OTI Racing told me this week that Manighar's two serious gallops at Werribee has been a considerable confidence boost. On the road to the Caulfield Cup Manighar has had four runs for Luca Cumani, including seconds to Holberg and Americain, which are set to tackle the Emirates Melbourne Cup.

Because Luca has stayed in England controlling his substantial stable, wife Sara and daughter Francesca have been overseeing Manighar's campaign and with the aid of a GPS tracking system on the horse, they believe he's ready to strike.

Of the three Caulfield Cup international runners, Manighar has the best barrier by a long way.

The plan is for jockey Damien Oliver to slot in to a good position from barrier three with the likes of Herculian Prince, Tokai Trick and Zabrasive set to take up the pace. Terry Henderson and Simon O'Donnell then will be hoping "Olly" can produce Manighar at the right time for the right result.

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OTHER foreign racehorses set to perform well are Japanese runner, Tokai Trick and Hong Kong's Mr Medici. The pair has worked together at Werribee capping off the preparation with a 1200-metre track test on Wednesday.

Hong Kong trainer, Peter Ho, warns punters not to drop off the Group One winner saying, while Mr Medici hadn't raced since winning the Chater Cup in May, he is perfectly fit.

Mr Medici did a lot of work getting fit before traveling to Melbourne and has maintained his levels over the past three weeks. TAB Fixed Odds has him at $18.

As for the Japanese contender, Tokai Trick ($35 with TAB Fixed Odds), don't be put off by his age. His trainer and jockey feel the nine-year old's best win was earlier this year and he seemingly settled in from day one. When Tokai Trick arrived he looked like he could race the next day. Since then he's been able to regain some weight and appears very strong and bright.

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Now let's look at the other action at Caulfield on Saturday.

Promising filly, Speed of Dark, missed the Thousand Guineas because her trainer, Grant Craven, felt Saturday's race suited her better heading towards the VRC Oaks. Craven isn't too worried about a rain-affected track because Speed of Dark won strongly on a heavy surface during the winter at Sandown.

Brisbane trainer, Rob Heathcote, has runners at Caulfield and Randwick on Saturday. Following his last start win in the Roman Consul Stakes, Buffering has coped well since and looks the horse to beat in the Governor Macquarie Cup (1200m) at Randwick. Heathcote is aware Buffering meets Obsequious slightly worse on weights but his horse is thriving.

Heathcote has Woorim at Caulfield, and on Tuesday his work was spot on. To bring out the best in Woorim, Heathcote would prefer a slow or better track.