AS I GO IN THE MELBOURNE CUP EVERY YEAR!
HAPPY READING FOLKS!!!
OUR CUP RUNNETH OVER BY RAIDERS
FOREIGN LEGION SQUEEZING LOCALS OUT OF THE GREAT RACE!
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 11th October 2011: By: Ray Thomas.
The foreign raiders are coming in record numbers this spring. The house full sign has already been posted at Werribee racecourse and another five international stayers are due to arrive over the weekend.
This will bring the number of northern hemisphere stayers here for the $6 million Melbourne Cup to 14 – and that does not include those stayers purchased from overseas and being prepared by Australian trainers for the famous Flemington “two-miler.”
The order of entry for the Melbourne Cup reveals than no fewer than 25 of the top 40 are stayers than began their careers overseas.
When you include the New Zealand-bred gallopers, it leaves only six locally-bred stayers among the leading qualifies – with the likes of Dreamaway and Pinker almost certain to miss the race.
French stayer American, last year’s Melbourne’s Cup winner, is leading the foreign legion again and is joined by horses hailing from England, Ireland, Germany, America, United Arab Emirates, even Chile.
Most of the international stayers are already qualified and should make the final field for the Melbourne Cup, ensuring record representation of overseas-trained horses in Australia’s greatest race.
And then there is the large number of former northern hemisphere stayers now with Australian trainers being set for the first Tuesday in November. Even 12-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Bart Cummings has joined the foreign legion as he is preparing former German stayer Illo for the big race.
The Freedman brothers, already the winner of five Melbourne Cups, have also gone to Germany to find their big chance, Lucas Cranach. Owner Lloyd Williams has a barn full of former European stayers like Midas Touch, At First Sight, Mourayan and Green Moon.
All this means either the Melbourne Cup has become a race of true international significance or Australia no longer breeds worthwhile distance horses – depending on your point of view. There is a real chance that for the first time in the race’s celebrated 150-history, there will be no locally bred stayer in the Melbourne Cup field.
Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara, one of the nation’s leading breeders and an authoritative voice on all matters racing, said the huge international presence in the Melbourne Cup this spring is not necessarily a poor reflection on the local breeding industry.
The Melbourne Cup is a great spectacle but there is no doubt there is more stout bloodlines overseas than at home, Messara said.
The market here is for sprinter-milers. Owners want quick returns, they want two and three-year-old winners, and breeders are only responding to the market and the race programs.
We stand Starcraft at Arrowfield and he won an AJC Australian Derby but he did that on pure class. He’s more a miler. We have Redoute’s Choice who has thrown 10 classic winners. The point is we do breed horses that can run the distances but the majority can’t.
There is so much prize-money for the Melbourne Cup now, if you have a horse that can stay, you have to go for the race.
The prize-money for the Melbourne Cup is nearly double that of the next richest Australian race, the $3.5 million Golden Slipper, and among the top five money races anywhere in the world and that is incentive enough to target the race.
VRC chief executive Dale Monteith makes no apologies into turning the Melbourne Cup into the World’s staying championship. “Last year it was the world’s top-rated staying race, he said.
ORDER OF ENTRY
JUKEBOX JURY (1) IRELAND
AMERICAIN (2) USA
DESCARADO (3) NEW ZEALAND
LION TAMER (4) NEW ZEALAND
SHAMROCKER (5) NEW ZEALAND
MIDAS TOUCH (6) GREAT BRITAIN
MIGHTY HIGH (7) FRANCE
ABSOLUTELY (8) NEW ZEALAND
DREAMAWAY (9) AUSTRALIA
MANIGHAR (10) FRANCE
GLASS HARMONIUM (11) IRELAND
UNUSUAL SUSPECT (12) USA
DRUNKEN SAILOR (13) IRELAND
DUNADEN (14) FRANCE
LINTON (15) AUSTRALIA
PRECEDENCE (16) NEW ZEALAND
MOURAYAN (17) IRELAND
ALCOPOP (18) AUSTRALIA
HERCULIAN PRINCE (19) NEW ZEALND
RED CADEAUX (20) GREAT BRITAIN
FOX HUNT (21) IRELAND
LUCAS CRANACH (22) GERMANY
HAWK ISLAND (23) GREAT BRITAIN
PINKER PINKER (24) AUSTRALIA
ILLUSTRIOUS BLUE (25) GREAT BRITAIN
LOST IN MOMENT (26) IRELAND
ILLO (27) GERMANY
MODUM (28) IRELAND
AT FIRST SIGHT (29) IRELAND
STAND TO GAIN (30) IRELAND
BOOMING (31) NEW ZEALAND
OLDER THAN TIME (32) AUSTRALIA
TACTIC (33) GREAT BRITAIN
SAHARA SUN (34) CHILE
THE VERMINATOR (35) AUSTRALIA
DECEMBER DRAW (36) IRELAND
PRAECIDO (37) NEW ZEALAND
TULLAMORE (38) NEW ZEALAND
MOYENNE CORNICHE (39) GREAT BRITAIN
SAPTAPADI (40) IRELAND
AMERICAIN POISED TO REPEAT THE DOSE
FRENCH STAYER THRIVING IN MELBOURNE CUP LEAD-UP
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 25th October 2011: By: Ray Thomas.
AMERICAIN, leading the charge among a record number of international stayers entered for next Tuesday’s $6 million Melbourne Cup, is in better shape now than when he won the race that stops a nation last year.
This is the ominous warning from Stephanie Nigge, the travelling fore-woman for Americain’s French trainer Alain de Royer Supre who has brought Americain to Melbourne for the past two spring carnivals and has overseen the champion stayer’s unbeaten record Down Under.
But with as many as 13 northern hemisphere-trained horses likely to contest the Melbourne Cup, Nigge fears Americain’s main opposition is likely to come from the “foreign legion” contingent.
The other French horse – Dunaden – he is not too bad, Nigge said as she rattled off the main international Melbourne Cup contenders. “Jukebox Jury is a good horse, Lucas Cranach too, and Red Cadeaux has a nice weight (53.5kg).
The scramble to secure a start in the 24-horse Melbourne Cup field will be more desperate than ever with 47 still left in the race after second acceptances were taken yesterday. The major news includes:
# THERE are a record 13 international stayers still among Cup entries with at least 10 already among the top 24 in Cup order of entry.
# ENGLISH trio Moyenne Corniche (27), Saptapadi (28) and Bauer (29) are only borderline chances of securing a start.
# OWNER Lloyd Williams, winner of three Melbourne Cups, has six stayers among the entries – Linton, Midas Touch, Mourayan, At First Sight, Tanby and Green Moon.
# BART CUMMINGS is chasing a 13th Melbourne Cup triumph from either Illo or Precedence.
# THERE are 18 horses entered for the Lexus Stakes at Flemington on Saturday who need to win the race to qualify for a Melbourne Cup start.
With a week to go before the race that stops a nation, the horse to beat is clearly Americain, who remained undefeated in Australia and proved he was close to his Melbourne Cup winning form of 12 months ago with a stunning effort in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup last Saturday.
Maybe this year he is better, Nigge said of Americain. Last year after he won at Geelong he needed more time to come down from his race. This year, he is quicker. It is like he knows what will happen.
Americain was restricted to walking exercise at Werribee yesterday with plans to give the stayer a solid workout tomorrow.
He seems to have pulled up very well and now he looks great, Nigge said. He just had a stretch on the track this morning, he was not stiff and everything is fine.
We will go back to work (tomorrow), that is when he will do his first canter.
Americain seemed to be struggling for form in Europe this year but his Moonee Valley Cup win was indicative the champion stayer was thriving in Melbourne again.
The horse does seem to like it here, I think he was a bit tired from the trip last year.
He needed a long time to recover from his trip and we were also unlucky with him in a few races.
Even Americain’s handicap of 58kg is not seen as a deterrent to his winning chances next Tuesday – despite the fact only Think Big (58.5kg) and Makybe Diva (58kg) have shouldered that weight or more to Melbourne Cup success in more than 40 years.
Werribee was a busy place yesterday morning as all the international Cup contenders did varying pieces of work. Dunaden jogged a couple of laps of the track, quickening up to three-quarter pace from the 1000m each time.
Jukebox Jury and Fox Hunt galloped together but were restricted to cantering exercise while Luca Cumani’s duo Bauer and Drunken Sailor were given the morning off, while their stable-mates Manighar and Sahara Sun did light exercise.
Jockey Michael Rodd made the trip out to Werribee to ride English stayer Red Cadeaux in a leisurely track gallop in preparation for the Cup. Rodd intends to return to Werribee towards the end of the week to give Red Cadeaux a more serious workout.
Red Cadeaux is a really laid-back horse with a lovely nature, Rodd said. He looks fantastic and has travelled over very well.
His form is very solid around Americain and Jukebox Jury so that gives me a lot of confidence.
Rodd is already wasting to ensure he will ride Red Cadeaux at 53.5kg in the Cup.
WHY LOCAL STAYERS ARE HANDICAPPED OUT OF OUR BIGGEST RACE
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 25th October 2011: By: Ray Thomas in Melbourne.
HOW can an English stayer who has never won a stakes race get into a Melbourne Cup ahead of an Australian Group 1 winner?
Why has another of the off-shore horses who went two years without winning a race become one of the first eligible for a Melbourne Cup start?
Does a ratings imbalance favour the northern hemisphere over locals?
When half the Melbourne Cup field could be overseas-trained stayers, it raises suspicions locals are up against it to qualify for the big race.
But Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter painted a different picture when interviewed by The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
One of those glaring examples is the Godolphin stable’s Lost In The Moment, a non-stakes winner who has 53kg in the Melbourne Cup and is assured of a start.
“Lost In The Moment ran second in the Goodwood Cup, was beaten in a photo finish by Opinion Poll, and third was Fox Hunt,” Carpenter said.
It is a very good form race because finishing behind Lost In the Moment that day was Manighar and Red Cadeaux.
Manighar hasn’t won a race for more than two years but has 54kg in the Melbourne Cup and is sixth in order of entry.
Carpenter pointed out that Manighar carried a similar weight to finish seventh in the Melbourne Cup last year and the horse’s form is superior going into this year.
Already this year Manighar has run third in the Yorkshire Cup, fourth in the Ascot Gold Cup and also ran fourth in the Prix Kergorlay, finishing in front of Americain and Dudaden. His form is terrific, Carpenter said.
Fox Hunt’s best win is in a Group 3 German St Leder while Red Cadeaux has a Group 3 Curragh Cup as his career-best win but both are in the Cup field ahead of last-start Group 1 The Metropolitan winner. The Verminator, currently 25th in order of entry and in danger of missing a start.
Carpenter said The Verminator won The Metropolitan on the limit weight of 52kg, while runner-up Hawk Island carried 56kg.
Carpenter also pointed out that most of the major staying races in Australia this year have been won by horses on the limit weight.
DIET SURE TO HAVE ME UNDER THE WHIP
Daily Tuesday 25th October 2011: By: Nick Walshaw: JOCKEY CHALLENGE
In a bid to understand the sacrifices required to ride in the Melbourne Cup, Nick Walshaw will spend the next seven days living on the diet of Jockey Hugh Bowman. Here is the Cup Diet preview.
HUGH BOWMAN is half the man I am. Well, almost half according to the dusty bathroom scales that last night teetered, somewhat embarrassingly, around 107kg.
Bowman, meanwhile, weighs 55kg – which, according to a recent edition of The Asian Age, is the ideal weight for an Indian woman. Yet to ride in next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, this leading Sydney hoop must still lose another 1.5kg. Which is why, on behalf of The Daily Telegraph, it’s been decided this prodgy hack spend a week helping Bowman with those wasting preparations.
You know, eat what he eats. Train how he trains.
Then go spend so much time in the sauna, you start to resemble a 1980s Kings Cross copper. Yep, good times.
See, while most jockeys are almost bang on weight come Cup week Bowman is different. A taller jockey, he is also a heavier one.
Which is why, when we first called yesterday, he was training. After that, a yoga class. Bowman promising on the run to reveal his entire program late last night after he was out of a steam room and this hack was deep into a carton.
So what are we in for?
Well, back in 2006, a Victorian University study spent three years following jockeys are they wasted – discovering observation skills of jockeys deteriorated by up tp 40 per cent while analytical skills fell 20 per cent.
Worse was the psychological impact. According to the data, 82 per cent suffered mood swings, 63 per cent felt depressed and 44 per cent encountered short-term memory loss. Although, to be fair, that sounds like a regular day on the punt to me.
CAPACITY FIELD WON’T BE A PROBLEM FOR MANAWANUI
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 25th October 2011: By: Brent Zerafa
GLYN Schofield has no concerns about the prospect of Manawanui facing a capacity field in Saturday’s Victory Derby at Flemington.
The $2.25 favourite has never raced in a field with more than nine runners in his short career but with 24 horses nominated yesterday to complete in the $1.5 million classic, a full field of 16 is expected.
I don’t think it will be a problem at all, he raced back in the field in a couple of his early races and boxed his way out, Schofield said.
Manawanui is clearly the superior three-year-old in the Derby, given his handicapper’s rating of 108 being 20 ahead of Norman Robinson Stakes winner Sabrage.
His only query is whether he will be able to extend his brilliance to the 2500 journey.
We rode him negative in the Vase for the exact reason of getting him to settle and he relaxed beautifully underneath me, Schofield said.
He went to sleep and then was still able to show his trademark finish inside the last third of the race.
Sydney three-year-olds Induna ($5:50) and Niagara ($7) are rated as Manawanui’s biggest dangers by TAB Sportsbet Fixed Odds.
Twelve horses have dominated to take on Sepoy in the Coolmore Stud Stakes including Hong Kong-trained three-year-old Bear hero, who worked strongly at Werribee yesterday. Super filly Atantic Jewel’s nomination for the Wakeful Stakes hasn’t scared off the opposition with 17 entries for the Oaks lead-up.
More joyous is expected to start a short-priced favourite to win the Group 1 Myer Classic.
Red Tracer carries a very strong form line into the Myer Classic considering she finished third to Secret Admirer and Pinker Pinker in the Epsom Handicap.
WHY JURY’S OUT ON AN AMERICAIN DREAM (THE MELBOURNE CUP 2011)
OWNER FEARS HE’LL RUIN TILT AT HISTORY
Sunday Telegraph 30th October 2011: By: Ray Thomas.
AMERICAIN is poised to defy an unlucky barrier and imposing handicap to become only the sixth horse to win multiple Melbourne Cups in Tuesday’s $6 million race.
But owner Kevin Bamford is worried about his second starter, with unknown English stayer Jukebox Jury looming as Americain’s biggest threat.
Jukebox Jury is only under the radar in Australia, Bamford said. He has to be the best qualified horse going into the race by a mile.
He’s won two Group I races, been placed in two Group I races, and won three Group 2 races.
Bamford pointed out that the two stayers have clashed previously, with Jukebox Jury winning the Prix Kergolay while Americain was unplaced.
Americain has since returned to form with a dominant Moonee Valley Gold Cup win and is favourite to repeat his 2010 Melbourne Cup triumph.
If he wins, the French stayer would join Archer (1861-62), Peter Pan (1932, 1934), Rain Lover (1968-69), Think Big (1974-1975) and Makybe Diva (2003-04-05) as the only multiple Cup winners.
The weight (58kg) says he will have trouble doing it again, but he will give it a shake, Bamford said.
I wasn’t confident last year. He had won a Geelong Cup and that doesn’t make you favourite for a Melbourne Cup.
Plus, there was a horse called So You Think in the race. If he runs 3200m he wins the Cup – I think he ran 3100m.
I don’t think there’s another So You Think in the race this year, but we have another 3.5kg which will slow us down a bit. But I think we have a good chance.
The final Melbourne Cup field was declared last night, with the Victoria racing Club committee confirming the first 24 in order of entry has secured starts.
This meant 2008 runner-up Bauer, at No 25, just missed a place in the field. The barrier draw produced its usual drama, including:
# AMERICAIN drew barrier 15, which has produced only one Melbourne Cup winner – Silver Knight in 1971.
# THERE are a record 11 internationals stayers in the field, and another six who began their careers in the northern hemisphere but are now with Australian trainers;
# THE Verminator, Niwot and Older Than Time are the only Australian-bred stayers in the field;
# THE maestro Bart Cummings , aiming for an unprecedented 13th Melbourne Cup, is hoping his luck holds after Illo drew gate one and Precedence alongside him in two;
# AFTER Bauer just missed a start, England’s star trainer Luca Cumani is relying on Drunken Sailor (barrier eight) and Manighar (21) to bring his first win;
# HAWK Island drew 18, the only barrier which has never produced a Cup winner; and
# JOCKEYS Craig Williams (Dunaden) and Nash Rawiller (Unusual Suspect) will not know if they can ride in the Cup until their appeals are heard tomorrow.
Lucas Cranach, who ran so well for fifth in the Caulfield Cup, has recovered from a minor hoof problem and has pleased trainer Anthony Freedman in the build-up to the big race on Tuesday.
He’s worked well, the hick-up that we had with him is good now, and we drew well, so we are hopeful, he said. That (barrier 11) was about where we wanted to draw.
Glass Harmonium secured a Cup start with his impressive Mackinnon Stakes win yesterday, but the grey stayer draw awkwardly in barrier 23.
Trainer Mike Moroney shrugged when asked about the barrier, adding there is nothing we can do about it now.
It’s always great to have a runner in the race and we think he is a live chance, Moroney said.
Niwot also earned a Melbourne Cup start with his runaway Lexus Stakes win.
He drew well in barrier nine and with only 51kg appeals as one of the best lightweight chances in the race.
I just looked at my father (John) and when they called his (Niwot) name, I thought this will make it or break it, co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said. And then barrier nine came up and there was a sigh of relief. Barrier nine is gold. It’s three votes in the Brownlow Medal in footy terms.
We ran second with Maluckyday last year and haven’t won this race, but we have been involved in lots of big races, and one thing I can guarantee is you need to have things going for you. And everything has gone to plan.
Owner Lloyd Williams, who has already won the Cup three times, has two runners in the big race – At First Sight and Mourayan.
HOW $944 KEPT BAUER ON THE SIDELINES
Sunday Telegraph 30th October 2011: By: Brent Zerafa. (THE HEARTBREAK)
CROWD favourite Bauer last night missed out on a start in the Melbourne Cup by a paltry $944.
The Luca Cumani-trained grey, who finished second to Viewed in the 2008 Melbourne Cup, was stranded at 25th on the order of entry as the final field was announced at 6pm.
Sitting above him was fellow import Saptapadi, whose only victory came in a maiden at Doncaster in April 2010.
With both horses handicapped on the same mark, it came down to prize-money earned in the past two seasons. With Bauer spending most of the time on the sidelines through injury, the last position was given to the Brian Ellison-trained runner.
The Victorian Race Club committee had the discretion to elevate Bauer above Saptapadi but elected to stick to the original order of entry.
Bauer was desperately unlucky not to qualify via the Geelong Cup, having been blocked for a run and flashing late to finish three-quarters of a length off Tanby.
The extra prize-money would have been enough to see the nine-year-old through.
Cumani was clearly disappointed, but put on a brave face as he still has Manighar and Drunken Sailor in the Cup field.
Cumani’s wife Sarah and daughter Francesca stood side by side as they marked each horses’ barriers on the acceptance sheet but it was evident they were still scratching their heads at how Bauer missed a run.
Asked whether they contemplated scratching either Manighar or Drunken Sailor to give Bauer a run, Francesca replied: You can’t do that. Both horses deserve their place in the field and you never know what can happen. They are both capable of winning the race.
Manighar firmed from $41 to $35 despite drawing barrier 21 and Drunken Sailor remained at his $35 quote after drawing gate eight.
That is perfect for Drunken Sailor, he likes to be boxed up between horses, Francesca said.
Manighar doesn’t mind racing wide, he is best with galloping room.
BIGGEST RACING EVENT IN THE WORLD
OVERSEAS STAMPEDE AT RECORD PROPORTION
Sunday Telegraph 30th October 2011: By: Ray Thomas. (THE FOREIGN RAIDERS)
THEY have come in record numbers this year.
Half the Cup field is made up of overseas stayers for what Luca Cumani calls “the biggest racing event on earth.”
The Melbourne Cup prize-money, all $6 million of it, is the obvious lure, but the race means so much more.
England-based trainer Luca Cumani is back for his sixth attempt to win the Melbourne Cup. He admitted he never realised how significant the race was until he first brought two stayers Down Under in 2006 – Soulacroix and Glistening.
All I knew was that it was a big race in Australia. We were so far away you just couldn’t visualise what it meant, Cumani said.
It wasn’t until I participated that I realised how big a thing it is. I was certainly enthralled by it. The moment you participate once, you want to come back.
Cumani, who has Manighar, Drunken sailor and Bauer in Tuesday’s race, has been close to Cup glory, with Purple Moon (2007) and Bauer (2208) both finishing second.
He admitted the Melbourne Cup is becoming something of an obsession with him.
Because we have not got it yet, we want it more and more, he said. I would say it’s the biggest racing event on earth – as an event.
There now have been 82 overseas-trained gallopers contest the Melbourne Cup for four winners – Vintage Crop (1993), Media Puzzle (2002), Delta Blues (2006) and Americain (2010).
There have also been some memorable flops, such as Double Trigger (1995) and Oscar Schindler (1996), and Aiden O’Brien’s three stayers, Septimus, Alessandro Volta and Honolulu, who trained the field in 2008.
Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor and Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin stable are aware of how difficult it is to win the great race. They are back for their 12th attempt this spring.
Despite Godalphin’s frustrating Melbourne Cup experience – the stable had had seconds with Central Park (1999), Give The Slip (2001), and Crime Scene (2009), and a third with Beekeeper (2002) – the desire to win burns deeply.
Only twice in the past 14 years had Godolphin not had a Cup runner.
It’s not easy. We’re tried many, many, times but we think with Modum and Lost In The Moment, we have the right horses, Bin Suroor said.
Modun was bought from Michael Stoute’s stables just two months ago with the Melbourne Cup in mind.
We liked him physically and the way he ran when he won the September Stakes, Bin Suroor said.
We thought he would be the right horse to bring here.
Modun, to be ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, will be having only his ninth start in the Cup. Bin Suroor believes Modun, who stands a towering 17 hands, can handle the occasion.
Modun won a Group 3 over a mile and a half (September Stakes, 2400m) and Lost In The Moment was second in the Goodwood Cup over two miles (3200m), Bin Suroor said. They have been in our thinking for a long time to come here.
When Lost In The Moment ran second behind Poinion Poll (Goodwood Cup), it gave us the confidence to bring him here.
Bin Suroor said Lost In The Moment had no luck in York’s 2800m Ebor Handicap, the premier staying handicap race in England which also featured Cup contenders Moyenne Corniche, Modun, Fox Hunt and Saptapadi.
The horses look in really good form, good condition and I’m really happy with them, Bin Suroor said.
English trainer Brian Ellison has brought Moyenne Corniche and Saptapadi Down Under hoping they would squeeze into the Cup field.
Six years ago, his Cups contender Carte Diamond dislodged his rider, crashed through the rail and was impaled on a metal upright.
Carte Diamond survived the accident to be an entrant the following year, but veterinary stewards ruled the horse out, citing lameless, a view not shared by Ellison.
We can have bad luck wherever you go.
England’s Mark Johnston, who had Double Trigger perform so badly all those years ago, is back with Jukebox Jury and Fox Hunt. He has some unfinished business here.
Ed Dunlop, also from England, has brought Red Cadeaux to Australia, while French horse Americain, trained by Alain de Royer Dupre, is back in a bid to repeat his 2010 triumph.
Perhaps because Americain proved it can be done, another French trainer, Mikel Delzangles, has set Dunaden for the Flemington two-miler.
We better get used to horses with unfamiliar names and bloodlines contesting the Cup. Even our best local trainers, including the legendary Bart Cummings, have gone overseas to buy classy European stayers specifically for the first Tuesday in November.
Cumani was right – the Melbourne Cup is the biggest racing event on earth.
EMIRATES $6 MILLION MELBOURNE CUP FIELD FOR 2011
RACE 7: 3200M. TUESDAY 3PM AT FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE IN VICTORIA.
No 1 10s1 AMERICAIN cw (15) G Mosse 58 $4:20
No 2 1311 JUKEBOX JURY (6) N Callan 57 $11:00
No 3 2s91 DUNADEN w (13) C Williams 54.5 $8:00
No 4 3137 DRUNKEN SAILOR dw (8) D Dunn 54 $35:00
No 5 4201 GLASS HARMONIUM h (23) L Cropp 54 $35:00
No 6 4844 MANIGHAR w (21) D Oliver 54 $35:00
No 7 s406 UNUSUAL SUSPECT (7) N Rawiller 54 $35:00
No 8 2461 FOX HUNT w (19) S De Sousa 53.5 $26:00
No 9 15s5 LUCAS CRANACH w (11) C Brown 53.5 $11:00
No 10 4312 MOURAYAN tw (14) J Bowman 53.5 $11:00
No 11 7009 PRECEDENCE thn (2) D Beadman 53.5 $35:00
No 12 1053 RED CADEAUX (16) M Rodd 53.5 $35:00
No 13 0220 HAWK ISLAND w (18) G Scholfield 53 $51:00
No 14 21s3 ILLO h (1) J A Cassidy 53 $21:00
No 15 3274 LOST IN THE MOMENT (3) W Buick 53 $35:00
No 16 2241 MODUN (5) K McEVOY 53 $26:00
No 17 0622 AT FIRST SIGHT (10) S R King 52.5 $15:00
No 18 5013 MOYENNE CORNICHE (17) B Prebble 52 $26:00
No 19 5580 SAPTAPADI (22) C Symons 52 $101:00
No 20 8070 SHAMROCKER th (24) L Nolen 52 $51:00
No 21 1510 THE VERMINATOR wn (4) C Newitt 52 $101:00
No 22 3832 TULLAMORE wh (12) C Munce 52 $26:00
No 23 7201 NIWOTT tcwn (9) D Yendall 51 $17:00
No 24 6530 OLDER THAN TIME wh (20) T Clark 51 $101:00
MY FOUR PICKS OF THIS YEAR ARE:
AT FIRST SIGHT
Barrier No 10 at 15/1
MODUN
Barrier No 5 at 26/1
LUCAS CRANACH
Barrier No 11, at 11/1.
AMERICAIN
Barrier No 15, at 4.20/1
No 17 AT FIRST SIGHT Form is excellent. Showed he was over a little setback with a big finishing second in the Bendigo Cup. Has the class, should run the trip and is a definite chance.
Trainer Robert Kickmott Jockey Steven King.
No 16 MODUN New addition to the Godolphin stable who was hand-picked for this race. Excellent European form. Gets in with a light weight and looks one of the big winning chances.
Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor Jockey Kerrin McEvoy.
No 1 AMERICAIN Looks in sparkling form right now. Unbeaten in three Australian starts and produced a supreme staying performance to win last time out. Very hard to beat again.
Trainer Alain de Royer Dupre Jockey Gerald Mosse.
No 9 LUCAS CRANACH Ran quite a good race in the Caulfield Cup when he had been under a fitness cloud because of a sore hoof. Expected to improve on that. He could win without surprising me.
Trainer Anthony Freedman Jockey Corey brown.
(I WILL BE PUTTING $10:00 (TAB) DOWN FOR A PLACE IN THIS YEAR’S MELBOURNE CUP)
CUP RUNNETH OVER WITH MONEY, NOT GLORY
Daily Monday Telegraph 31st October 2011: By: Andrew Webster.
WARNING: This Melbourne Cup eve story isn’t one of those warm and fuzzy Melbourne Cup eve stories.
That’s not how trainer Mark Johnson – the straight-talking Scotsman who prepares Jukebox Jury and Fox Hunt – rolls.
Because Mark Johnston will tell you in no uncertain terms the Melbourne Cup is not the most prestigious race in the world, he doesn’t like the Australian racing style whatsoever and he’s here for the prize-money not the glory.
And he maintains his controversial claim that our great sprinter Takeover Target, the fabled and global superstar who cost Queanbeyan taxi driver Joe Janiak $1250, won his races fuelled by anabolic steroids.
I said what I said and I was right, says Johnston, who made the claims three years ago at Royal Ascot.
I don’t care what they say. I was just saying the simple facts. And anybody who says it’s not the case here is completely burying his head in the sand. Your regulations allow it.
The idea that a horse can have a preparation and then a spell and during that spell it can be giving anabolic steroids. Joe Janiak said he gives them to him to help them travel. So there was no denying that horses in Australia regularly use anabolic steroids. In Britain there’s almost none, and it’s strictly against the rules.
If I was to stand up and say I give Fox Hunt anabolic steroids to help him travel, well, I’m going to be banned for life.
When Johnston first made those scorching allegations, Melbourne trainer Peter Moody described him as “one of the most unpopular trainers in England.”
Nick Godfrey, the international editor from England turf bible, The Racing Post, says this of the man. Mark could start an argument in an empty room. He’s very out-spoken but he’s a very intelligent person and he’s not often wrong. He does ruffle feathers but he has enormous respect in Europe for his horses and the fact he has built himself from the ground up. He is a self-made man.
He is also a man ready to win the Melbourne Cup, which is a race he admittedly only covets for the money – and quite satisfaction in snatching Australia’s prized race from under its nose.
The Melbourne Cup is not seen in Europe as it is in Australia, he says bluntly. That’s not my fault. It’s just a fact. I would be lying if I said the Melbourne Cup has anywhere near the same kudos in Europe it has over here. It’s a huge challenge to take a horse from one side of the world to the other and win it. But it’s not the biggest race in the world.
It’s not the most prestigious race. But it’s certainly the most valuable. And this is my best chance to win it.
He said as much in 1995 when he brought Double Trigger to Melbourne and famously declared on 60 Minutes: Australia’s never seen a horse like this one before.
That’s when paranoia about overseas stayers pillaging our Cup was running high. Then Double Trigger was sent out as favourite, struggled with the Australian style of racing and finished 17th from 20 starters.
Johnston holds similar concerns for Jukebox Jury, the $11 second favourite in tomorrow’s race.
The bold front-running grey is Europe’s form stayer, having won the Group 1 Irish St Leger (2800m) at the Curragh in dead-heat – and six lengths ahead of Cup favourite Americain.
But the mad dash for position at the start is already worrying Johnston.
That is exactly the sort of thing I fear happening, he says. Double Trigger was used to galloping them into the ground in Europe, he set off here and was well to the back of the field going into the first bend. He was stuck back in the field down the back straight, they sprinted and he only beat a couple home.
To that end, he thinks Fox Hunt ($26) has wrongly flown under the radar: Fox Hunt is absolutely the opposite to Jukebox Jury. Jukebox Jury has never run in a handicap race. Fox Hunt has come up through the handicap ranks. He is a very tough horse. He will be switching off and coming again at the finish.
Having also failed in the past with Quick Ransom and Yavana’s Pace, Johnston can see some kudos in becoming the first trainer from England to win the Melbourne Cup.
The temptation is to call him a whinging Pom, given his out-spoken views, but the truth is he is neither.
I’m not a Pom, he says. I live in northern England but I come from Scotland. I’m not a proud Englishman. The owner of Double Trigger, who was also born in Scotland but lived all his life in England, was once seriously upset with me because I wouldn’t have my picture taken with the horse and the Union Jack.
On the score of being perceived as a whinger, he says: I think it would be dishonest to do anything else but say what you think. I’m saying what I believe is right. I thought it was fantastic when Bart Cummings said about So You Think that our racing’s not worth two-bob. I’ve never met the guy. But he spoke his mind. There’s nothing wrong with that.
DRIVING FREEDMAN’S GERMAN MACHINE ON WAY TO SECOND COMING
Daily Monday Telegraph 31st October 2011: By: Corey Brown.
NEVER in my time that I’ve been associated with Lee Freedman have I ever seen him so excited about a horse as he is with German import Lucas Cranach.
That is why I am confident I can win my second Melbourne Cup on the horse tomorrow.
Lee and myself have had our differences in the past, he even sacked me as his stable rider a couple of years back but I can just tell he is tickled pink with this horse’s preparation.
His run in the Caulfield Cup was much better than it looked and I’ll put my hand up and say it was half my fault.
I was instructed to ride him the way I did, the Freedman brothers came up with a plan to have him hitting his top when he was entering the straight because coming from Europe, we thought he might be a little one-paced.
When I pushed the button at the 600m I was disappointed with myself as that is not my style of riding and when he accelerated I knew straight away I had wasted his burst.
I should have been using it closer to the post.
The positive is that everyone learnt from the experience. I didn’t really know about the horse, I was expecting something different from him and he showed me something different again. He is not the same horse as what I saw on the videos of his runs in Germany. Lee has got more speed in his legs, which means we don’t have to ride him like a European horse anymore.
As for talk he is not sound and he is still having trouble with his feet, it is complete rubbish. I rode the horse in track-work last Tuesday and he was 100 per cent. It was well documented that he had a quarter crack going into the Caulfield Cup but he has had two weeks to get over it and he is fine. Nothing at all to worry about.
Fitness-wise he will also be in much better shape as he was a touch underdone at Caulfield.
Americain looks the horse to beat and I’m glad he won the Moonee Valley Cup as it has taken some of the heat off myself. When you are the favourite or the horse everyone is talking about, you are like a marked man in the race. Everyone is looking out for you and not giving an inch. I know because I do it myself.
Combining with the Freedman brothers again has been enjoyable. When I was a kid I’d get upset and bitch and talk to people awfully. I wasn’t a nice person but one thing I learnt, I don’t know who I learnt it from or the exact moment, but I just learnt to roll with all the punches.
Yes Lee Freedman didn’t want me. Things weren’t going right for us and someone had to get the blame, I got the blame, I got shafted but you know what I never blew up, I took it in my stride. It has worked in my favour because I didn’t create an enemy and now we are back together and I’m in the box seat to win the richest prize in Australian racing, the Melbourne Cup.
MOSSE PULLS PLUG ON JUKEBOX JURY
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 1st November 2011: By: Andrew Webster.
FRENCH jockey Gerald Mosse last night effectively dismissed the chances of Jukebox Jury – the last horse to annihilate his charge Americain – as a threat to him winning back-to-back Melbourne Cups.
Mosse flew to Melbourne from Hong Kong late yesterday and declared the favourite was more than ready to become only the fifth horse to win consecutive Cups.
He also cast doubt over Jukebox Jury, who destroyed many Cup rivals, including Americain by six lengths, in the Prix Kergorlay over 3000m at Deauville in August.
Echoing the fears of the trainer Mark Johnston, Mosse believes the grey front-runner will struggle with the style of Australian racing.
He’s solid, he’s a tough horse, but it will be difficult for him, Mosse said.
Where did he draw? Inside, in barrier six. He will want to go to the front, and you have to get speed.
We break out of the gate must faster here than the UK, so to get a good position for the turn will be difficult.
It will be difficult for him with the run, with the pace.
You have to get a good horse with a turn of foot. You don’t see too much horses winning the Melbourne Cup from the front and then carrying on all the way to the line. You have to be really solid to do that.
Mosse and Americain’s part-owner Gerry Ryan walked the track yesterday, and Melbourne’s spasmodic rain pleased the jockey heading into the $6 million dollar race.
The international hoop once told Ryan he considered Americain to be a “Bentley, but with gears.”
He said a glance of the field for today’s raced had infused him with confidence.
Why? Because So You Think and Maluckyday aren’t in it.
The field this year is not as strong as last year, Mosse confessed. We don’t have So You Think. We don’t have anything solid in this race.
Americain has not been in his best form this year in Europe, because of many small things. Probably a virus at the beginning of the season.
Everything was against him (in the Prix Kergorlay). No pace. He stumbled from the gate (on) the last run. But I was still feeling he would be able to come back.
Since he has come back to Melbourne – the way he won the Moonee Valley Cup – he looks like he is coming back to his (best) form. We have to carry a bit more weight. But I am confident.
Mosse also revealed he had not yet come down off the high of winning last year’s Cup, when he up-staged the Bart Cummings-prepared So You Think.
It’s an incredible feeling, he said. For me, you became a superstar. You become a rock star. It’s crazy. A year has passed and I still not come down yet, because everywhere I go people from Australia are congratulating me.
When things are bad with how I am racing in Europe, I think back to Australia and Melbourne Cup and then I pick up again.
UNIQUE TREBLE HOPE ENDS AS WILLIAMS SUSPENSION STILL STAND AGAINST HIM
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 1st November 2011: By: Ray Thomas.
CRAIG WILLIAMS failed in a last-minute bid to seek a stay of proceedings against a careless riding suspension to allow him to ride Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup today.
The champion jockey, who was hoping to become the first to win the Melbourne spring triple crown, had taken his case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal but late yesterday was informed he would not be riding Dunaden.
Williams had already won the Caulfield Cup (Southern Speed) and Cox Plate (Pinker Pinker) and was striving to become the first jockey to win all three majors at the same carnival on Dunaden in the $6 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
An obviously disappointed Williams emerged from the VCAT hearing late yesterday and indicated he would not be taking the matter to the Supreme Court. French jockey Christophe Lemarie had been flown in from Japan by Dunaden’s connections in the event Williams lost his appeal and he will now ride the stayer in the Melbourne Cup.
Williams had been suspended last at the Bendigo Cup meeting and the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board of Victoria had already dismissed his appeal against the ban last Friday.
Sydney’s premier jockey Nash Rawiller suffered a similar fate before VCAT yesterday.
Rawiller had also been suspended at last week’s Bendigo meeting but followed the same path as Williams in the hope he could be given a reprieve and allow him to ride Unusual Suspect in the Melbourne Cup. When his application for a stay of proceedings was thrown out, Rawiller’s younger brother Brad picked up the ride on Unusual Suspect.
NIWOT FIRMS AS AMERICAIN DRIFTS
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 1st November 2011: By: Brent Zerafa.
NIWOT continues to be the horse almost everyone wants to back in today’s Emirate’s Melbourne Cup as book-makers yesterday signalled an intent to risk defending champ Americain.
Betting was tense at the Call Of The Card at Crown Casino as some of the nation’s sharpest punters zoned in on their fancies.
The John Hawkes’ trained Niwot firmed from $14 to $10, commanding 17 per cent of all money invested with TAB Sportsbet yesterday, and is now on the third line of betting behind Americain and Dunaden.
An unknown punter made the bold move of having $40,000 on Niwot when betting commenced at $11:00, sparking the room in to action as a flood of money followed. High-pro-file brothers Sean and Kingsley Bartholomew were very active at the luncheon, backing several runners at big odds including Saptapadi to win $1 million, Red Cadeaux to win $500,000 and Glass Haronium to win $400,000.
Kingsley was the first punter to back Americain when the $5:50 was offered, having $50,000 on with Alan Eskander while Sean settled for $20,000.
He is not the sort of horse I want to be losing on if he wins, I’ve backed him to cover my bets, Sean said.
If the bookies bet $6 I’d pack him to win $500,000 but they only bet $5:50 so instead I backed him to win $100,000.
The Ed Dunlop trained Red Cadeaux is yet to race in Australia but that didn’t stop a string of punters backing it at the Call Of The Card to the tune of around $1.6 million. Lost In The Moment was also backed to win $500,000 by one individual punter.
Americain has drifted from $3.90 to $4.80 in the last week with TAB Sportsbet and Glenn Munsie feels the trend could continue today.
He is still the most popular horse despite the drift, he said.
Tom Waterhouse was one of the book-makers fielding at the Call Of The Card and said while Americain is his worst result by a long way, he is respected to take the risk and keep letting the punters on. Alan Eskander was of the same opinion, and feels today’s Cup has a sense of tradition about it.
I’d say there was a greater spread of betting in other years, they have backed more horses, last year we had So You Think and everyone wanted to be on him, a few years back we had Makybe Diva too, he said.
There is not that headline horse that captures everyone’s attention but I think it makes for a better spectacle, they have backed 10 or 12 horses, that is what it is all about, it is going back to the old days of the Melbourne Cup.
Bookmakers established that The Verminator is the outsider of the field by pushing his price to $151. Trainer Chris Waller was at the Call Of The Card and had the crowd in laughter as he realistically described his chances of winning the Melbourne Cup.
Some people might say they (Hawk Island and The Verminator) have no chance and I probably agree with them. But we are here living the dream and that is what it’s all about, he said.
LUCAS AIMING TO PULL OFF DADDY OF ALL PLUNGES
Daily Tuesday Telegraph 1st November 2011: By: Brent Zerafa.
LUCAS CRANACH is striving to achieve what his sire Mamool could not at Flemington today, land a long-range betting plunge and win the Emirates Melbourne Cup.
The Anthony Freedman-trained German import was backed at $101 when markets opened in early September and is now $11:00, on the third line of betting behind last year’s winner Americain and Dunaden.
Godolphin’s Mamool was sensationally backed in mid-September to win the 2003 Melbourne Cup before he had landed in the country with two bets of $30,000 placed to win more than $500,000.
He firmed to start $6:50 favourite but couldn’t handle the pressure of the great race and cracked to finish last, 35 lengths behind Makybe Diva.
The Melbourne Cup has long been associated with some of the nation’s biggest gambling tales.
Media mogul Kerry Packer famously backed Might and Power to win $5 million when he nosed out Doriemus in the closest of photo finishes in 1997.
A year later Packer was back and again in the money, instigating a large-scale plunge on Jezabeel in the final 30 minutes of betting which ripped $10 million from the bookies’ bags around the country.
In 1877 Savanaka made his debut in the great race but word had obviously hit the street that he could gallop as he was backed from 200/1 to 4/1 before finishing a close second to Chester.
EMIRATES $6 MILLION MELBOURNE CUP WINNERS FOR 2011
1ST No 3: Dunaden
2nd No 12: Red Cadeaux
3rd No 9: Lucas Cranach
(Charles managed to broke even, as one of my horses Lucas Cranach (that I had down for a place) came third and was paying out $4:40 for the place.)
DOWN UNDER HOPES ARE DOWN AND OUT
Daily Wednesday Telegraph 2nd November 2011: Ray Thomas. (THE AUSSIES)
NIWOT, The Melbourne Cup plunge horse, led the locals home behind a marauding group of seven northern hemisphere stayers in the great race yesterday.
John Hawkes, the Hall of Fame trainer, says the dominance of the European stayers in the Melbourne Cup is something we are all going to have to get used to.
But the maestro Bart Cummings hasn’t given up on his quest for a 13th Melbourne Cup next year – even if he has to go overseas to find the right stayer after his two runners, Precedence (11th) and Illo (19th) finished down the track behind France’s Dunaden, who just edged out English stayer Red Cadeaux.
Niwot only secured a Melbourne Cup start with his runaway Lexus Stakes win on Derby Day. He was then backed to win more than $4 million in the Melbourne Cup in a sensational plunge that saw the stayers odds tumble from $101 on Saturday morning to $9 for the Cup.
Perhaps this was more to do with parochialism as Niwot, one if only three Australian-bred horses in the race, was clearly the best local hope.
After looming as a winning chance on the home turn, Niwot briefly hit the front at the top of the straight but had no response to the wave of European stayers who surged past him in the final 200m. Even minor placegetter Lucas Cranach, although now trained by Anthony Freedman, began his racing career overseas.
Niwot has tried hard but he doesn’t have the class of these European stayers, Hawkes said.
The days of a Lexus winner like Niwot backing up to win the Melbourne Cup are probably over.
Niwot only had 51kg but he was too close to the overseas horses at the weights.
But I was very proud of the horse, he really tried hard and to run eighth was a really good effort.
He’s only lightly raced so we will bring him back next year and hopefully try again.
Most of Cummings’ 12 Melbourne Cup wins have come from horses who have stormed into the race over the final 300m.
It was unusual to see the trainer’s two runners setting the pace yesterday.
Illo was the leader down the straight the first time, crawling along at little more than a canter while stablemate Precedence eventually worked to second, although he continued to over-race, giving jockey Darren Beadman a torrid ride.
Jim Cassidy, rider of Illio, injected some speed into the race from the 2000m mark and the Cup resembled more a European-style staying race where the speed and momentum gradually increase the longer the race.
But Illo and Precedence were the first horses beaten on the turn, leaving 83-year-old Cummings to ponder what sort of horse he needs to win the Cup next year.
We might be back here with Illo again, Cummings said. He’s from Germany and I think he needed a little more time out here to be at his best for this race.
Precedence didn’t settle, so they can’t run 3200m when they do that.
The only other Australian-bred stayers, The Verminator (13th) and Older Than Time (17th) were never in contention and finished well down the track.
AMERICAIN MODEL FOR CONQUEST
Daily Wednesday Telegraph 2nd November 2011: By: Ray Thomas. (THE WINNERS)
A FRENCH trainer who learned from the best and a young Qatari royal succeeded where the world’s biggest race-horse owners have failed so many times when they combined to win the Melbourne Cup with Dunaden at Flemington yesterday.
Trainer Mikel Delzangles spent 10 years working at the stables of Americain’s trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre and unashamedly used the blue-print of Americain’s 2010 Melbourne Cup triumph to determine Dunaden’s successful Cup campaign.
And owner Sheik Fahad al Thani only began investing in thoroughbred racing 12 months ago, building up a team of 50 well-bred gallopers including Dunaden.
He was also to achieve what the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum, has been trying to do for 15 years – win the Melbourne Cup.
As Sheik Mohammed’s Lost In The Moment (sixth) and Modun (last) trailed in behind Dunaden, a gracious Sheik Fahad was not about to use his moment of triumph to claim bragging rights.
I am not stealing his thunder, Sheik Fahad said.
Sheik Mohammed has been a great help to me, I look up to what he has been able to achieve in racing around the world.
I’m sure he will win this race one day. I hope if we don’t win it next year, Sheik Mohammed does.
Sheik Fahad, whose brother Mohammed bin Khalifa al Thani was chairman of Qatar’s successful 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, splashed out several million dollars on horses last year. But Dunaden was not one of his more expensive buys, bought for ‘a handicaper’s price.’
We bought him for a fraction of what he has won today, the sheik said.
Delzangles said Dunaden exceeded early expectations and was showing such staying promise that consideration was given to aiming the six-year-old at Europe’s most prestigious staying race, the Ascot Gold Cup at England’s Royal Ascot carnival.
But Sheik Fahad, who studied business administration for four years in London and became attracted to British racing by watching it on television, had other ideas.
The Melbourne Cup is one of the biggest races in the world but it’s a handicap and I wanted to save his handicap, Sheik Fahad said. I said no to the Ascot Gold Cup this year...let’s go for the Melbourne Cup and we can run in the Ascot Gold Cup next year.
Delzangles, 40, has been training for eight years and won major races such as the English 2000 Guineas last year with the brilliant Makfi.
However, he admitted the Melbourne Cup was a journey into the unknown for him.
I didn’t know anything about here except Americain won the Melbourne Cup last year, so basically our whole plan was to try the same as Alain did, Delzangles said. The way races are run here is similar to France and you need a horse that can quicken in the last furlong (200m). I felt Dunaden was the right horse.
Dunaden completed the Geelong Cup / Melbourne Cup double, emulating Americain’s feat 12 months ago.
It’s an amazing thrill, Delzangles continued. It was a drama race in between the jockey (Craig Williams) losing the ride yesterday and this photo (finish). I thought I was beaten by Red Cadeaux but Dunaden is such a wonderful horse, he put his ears back and just got there.
LET’S FACE IT, THE EUROPEANS ARE A MILE (TWO) TOO GOOD
Daily Wednesday Telegraph 2nd November 2011: By: Ken Callander.
CHRISTOPHE LEMAIRE? Hands up everyone who knew just two days ago he was a jockey let alone a jockey who was going to win a Melbourne Cup?
To most Aussie punters he could have been a rock star, a motorcyclist or even a fashion designer. In fact, Google the name and you will find he is a fashion designer, born 1966, but that’s the other Christophe Lemaire.
The man who rode brilliantly yesterday in what used to be Australia’s race at Flemington is a 1979 model Christophe Lemaire, who rides racehorses in France and spends his European winters riding racehorses in Japan.
We need to get to know these Europeans. They came and conquered yesterday and we cannot live in a rut and think our horses, or seven our jockeys, are good enough anymore.
The first seven horses home in the Cup were Europeans who came here just for the race. There are better horses than them and they race in Japan. The last time we had quarantine rules that enabled the Japanese to run in the Melbourne Cup was 2006 and they ran first and second with Delta Blues and Pop Rock.
Lemaire’s ride on Dunaden was brilliant, but, to be fair, no better than Michael Rodd’s on the runner-up Red Cadeaux or even Corey Brown’s on third place-getter Lucas Cranach.
I had to do a double take down the back of the track when the first two horses in the run, Illo and Precedence, were the two Bart Cummings runners. That isn’t Bart. He likes his horses to be held up and relaxed; he was even critical when So You Think hit the front too early last year when he joined the lead at the top of the straight.
But Illo and Precedence weren’t ridden by ‘Hillbillies.’
Jim Cassidy and Darren Beadman were the jockeys, but the pace was so moderate they could not fight their horses and instead were forced to take the worse option of taking up the running.
At this point Lemaire and Dunaden were 15th and Rodd and Red Cadeaux were 18th in the field of 23, Americain, the favourite, with his big-time jockey Gerald Mosse on board, was even further back.
But Melbourne Cups are not won down the back of the course. The home straight is where the tough get going and watching the race I wondered how many of the ‘fools gold’ option of gaining ground on the inside on a Flemington track where the rails resembled quicksand and the outside of the track was the concrete speedway.
But Lemaire is no mug. He was out where you had to be to beat the bias on Dunaden and he strode to the front when push came to shove and the horses on his inside were collapsing like ninepins being skittled in a bowling alley.
Rodd, a masterful Flemington rider, was even wider and it seemed he was going to swamp the French horse. Before the photo finish went up I thought it had.
Lucas Cranach’s run for third was first-rate. Americain was set a tough task by Mosse, but even with a sweeter run I doubt he would have beaten the first-pair.
So how do we stop these European invaders? First we have to ensure our administrators develop staying horses by ensuring that at least two races at every metropolitan meeting are over distance in excess of 1600m.
Then our breeders will come to the party and start to breed some stayers or they will see our owners more and more going to Europe to buy stock.
In the meantime, and that is probably the next five years, teach yourself to back overseas horses and remember Christopher Lemaire appears in the Sports pages and not just the fashion pages.
