French jockey Christophe Lemaire has returned to Australia as a Melbourne Cup winner, feeling like a movie star, and with a second Cup victory in sight.

Two years ago he flew into Melbourne as a late replacement for the suspended Craig Williams on Dunaden and won the Melbourne Cup in the tightest finish in history.

Lemaire, who is back to partner another French horse Verema, soaked up the pre-race atmosphere in the annual Cup parade in Melbourne on Monday.

"I have great memories (of 2011) but everything went very fast because I arrived just the day before the race and I left the day after so I couldn't enjoy the real excitement of the race, especially with the crowd and Melbourne city," Lemaire said.

"So I'm glad to be here today and to be part of this big event.

"For the European guys, we are not used to live this kind of event for horse racing. So today we are like stars, or movie stars, or big sportsmen. For us it's quite different than in Europe."

Lemaire has only had one ride at Flemington and should things go as he hopes, it will be two from two come Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm very confident with her because she's a Group Two winner in France and she stays very well the trip," Lemaire said of Verema.

"She's tough and very mature for this kind of race. She likes fast ground so she's got a lot of positive points.

"There's 23 other runners in the race so the trip will be very important. I'll try to give her a smooth race and if she has a smooth run she's able to accelerate very well and has a good dash at the end. So we can expect her to run a big race."

Lemaire was called on to ride Dunaden in 2011 after Craig Williams failed in an appeal against a careless riding suspension.

He rates this year's race a more open field than two years ago.

Both Dunaden and Red Cadeaux, who fought out the finish in 2011, are back for Tuesday's $6.2 million race along with seven other internationally-trained horses.

Lemaire said Dunaden and Verema were "quite similar".

"They are both very good stayers and have very good acceleration at the end. A very good finish," he said.

"Maybe they have the same quality. Dunaden won, so very much she can win also."