Simon O'Donnell helped Australia to victory over England in cricket's 1987 World Cup but has joined forces with the enemy in a bid to win a Cup of a different kind.

The former Test and ODI all-rounder is now in the racing business with Terry Henderson, importing European horses to win the Melbourne Cup under the OTI banner.

Geelong Cup winner Ibicenco and Saturday's Lexus Stakes winner Ruscello, the last horse into the field, represent OTI on Tuesday.

Neither is expected to win but O'Donnell is certain both deserve their places in Australia's most famous race.

Ibicenco has been domiciled in Australia for a year with leading trainer Peter Moody while Ruscello is still firmly English and runs for Newmarket trainer Ed Walker.

The young trainer believed there was no intention to run Ruscello in the Cup even if he won the Lexus as backing horses up after three days is not something the Poms do.

But it is something Australians do and once he saw how Ruscello handled the occasion of Derby day, O'Donnell was sold on a Cup start.

"It was a strong win in front of a big crowd and I don't know that we had any other conclusion as to which way to go," O'Donnell said.

"A lot of these English horses haven't experienced coming out to 90,000 people in 28 degrees.

"It's a big factor and for him to handle it as well as he did meant we had to run him.

"The reason we buy these horses is to run in the Cup."

Until Ruscello performed so well, the intention had been to send him to Robert Smerdon with a view to next year.

Depending on how well he goes in the Cup, he could return to Walker's stable for a crack at some of the bigger races in England.

"Lots of things can change and he won't necessarily stay here," O'Donnell said.

Ibicenco's Geelong Cup win on a heavy track showed he was ready for the 3200m at Flemington.

"The Lexus and the Geelong Cup are the two best form races for the Cup," O'Donnell said.

"Ibicenco is a genuine two-miler."

Ibicenco was given a 1kg penalty for his Geelong Cup win, the same given to the Bart Cummings-trained Precedence for winning the Moonee Valley Cup.

It wasn't enough to get Precedence in the field and he missed out by one spot when Ruscello was declared a starter.