Premier League superstar and Ballon d'Or winner Michael Owen chasing Melbourne Cup glory

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Premier League superstar Michael Owen got a taste for the Melbourne Cup in the year that he retired, now he wants more.

Owen, a Premier League superstar, rose to fame with Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, UEFA Cup, and two League Cups. 

Known for his speed and finishing ability, he won the Ballon d'Or as the world's best player in 2001, making him one of the few English players to receive the honour.

Later in his career, Owen played for Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United, and Stoke City before retiring, finishing with a total of 150 Premier League goals.

He retired in 2013 and immediately invested in his love of thoroughbreds, putting Brown Panther up for the Melbourne Cup that year and coming a fighting eighth place.  

Now, he is returning Down Under for a speaking tour in November and the timing is no accident - he is here to scope out future opportunities to be part of the race that stops a nation.  

 'It was a great trip down there, I spent four or five days down in Melbourne and just had the most incredible time, so as soon as this opportunity came to come back down to various places in Australia, I thought that'd be great, I need to go there again,' he told Wide World of Sports.

English superstar Michael Owen developed a love for thoroughbreds at a very young age

Owen brought his first horse to the Melbourne Cup in the same year that he retired in 2013

Owen will return to Australia this November and has an eye on a return to the biggest race of the year at Flemington

Owen quickly got to experience the devastating lows that come along with the dizzying highs in the racing industry just two short years after Brown Panther's maiden Melbourne Cup.

Racing in the Group 1 Irish St. Leger, Brown Panther suffered an injury to a hind leg and was unfortunately euthanised. It is a moment still burned deep into Owen's memory.

'It's the saddest day of my life,' he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, at the time.

'The toughest, most honest, brilliant horse I will ever set eyes on passed away today doing the thing he loved the most.

'A shattered hind leg that was irreparable according to the first-class team at the Curragh ended his life.

'I was with him when he was born, shared an experience for seven years that will never be repeated and gave him his last kiss goodbye.

'What an honour to own and breed him. I love you Panther, life will not be the same without you.'

Brown Panther was Owen's first horse to contest the Melbourne Cup but sadly died two years later as the result of a racing injury

Owen now has a stable of over 130 horses and is hopeful of unearthing another Melbourne Cup contender

That tragedy did not dim Owen's love for horses, though. He bought his first farm when he was 23 with an eye on a post-career in the industry and now boasts 20 stables and over 130 horses.

And he plans to discover the perfect animal to once again contest the Melbourne Cup.

'We haven't had another runner in the Melbourne Cup but we're always looking,' he said.

'There's a lot of crossovers with Australian racing. A lot of your sprinters come over for Royal Ascot and kick our backsides with the sprinting but I still think we've got the upper hand with our staying horses, you buy a lot of our staying horses for races like the Melbourne Cup.

'My stable has sold one or two horses over the last 10 years to Australian clients.

'We had an absolutely incredible time, I took my family down, I took my parents and three friends down to Melbourne for that race. Any excuse to get another runner in the race would be great.'