Godolphin is set to launch a French foreign legion on The Championships after eight imports arrived in Australia on Friday to strengthen the staying ranks of the Australian team.

Godolphin general manger John Ferguson hand-picked six horses from the Chantilly stable of Andre Fabre to join John O'Shea's stable and they were accompanied by a couple from the Mark Johnston stable in England.

"We are looking towards the most important meeting in Sydney of the year, The Championships, and this is an indication about how serious the boss [Sheikh Mohammed] and John Ferguson are taking our racing," O'Shea said on Saturday.

"We will get them on the ground and work out where they fit in, but the plan is to have them up and running in time for the autumn, and maybe the winter in Brisbane. Looking at their form there are a couple of really nice horses among them."

The imports will join the solid team in the O'Shea stable, including Golden Rose winner Astern and Cox Plate runner-up Hartnell, which was also third in the Melbourne Cup.

Godolphin will also fly in a team from the Charlie Appleby yard for The Championships, after his success during the Melbourne spring. The team is likely to be led by Geelong Cup winner Qewy, which will target the Sydney Cup after his fourth in the Melbourne Cup.

"The Championships has become a carnival that we are going to aim our horses from around the world," Godolphin Australia general manager Henry Plumptre said. "We have a very good team of horse in our stable here but these imports reinforce a weak point of the team at a mile [1600m] and beyond.

"We want to be in the winner's circle during those big days in Sydney and we are going to have a very strong team there from John and Charlie."

The imports are mostly lightly raced three-year-olds from France and have plenty of potential for improvement.   Big Blue, Floodlight and Spectroscope bring black-type placings to Australia, with Floodlight unplaced in the French Derby after being runner-up to Almanzor, probably Europe's best three-year-old, in a Chantilly group 3 lead-up.

"There is a nice horse called Ancient History, which is high rated as well," O'Shea said. "I have always wanted to get some horses from France because they are trained on flat ground and I think they can adjust to our racing a bit more quickly."

A couple of English handicappers, New Caledonia and Ode To Evening, joined the French horses on the plane. Ode To Evening won under James McDonald at  Newmarket in July and was runner-up during the Glorious Goodwood meeting, while New Caledonia was an Ascot winner in September.

The decision to send more staying types to Australia came after O'Shea turned three of the six imports sent to him in the past couple of years into group 1 winners, among them Hartnell.

"These are the sort of horses we lack in the team here, and John Ferguson is aware of the type needed to be competitive out here," Plumptre said.

"If you look at the first set of horses that came out here, Hartnell, Contributor and Magic Hurricane became group 1 winners.

"the last time we had horse come at this time of year, Hartnell and It's Somewhat were able to win in the autumn."

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