Dec_112_AroundtheGlobe_Owner Breeder 20/11/2013 16:06 Page 42
AROUND THE GLOBE
AUS TRA L IA
by Stephen Howell
Hugely popular win for Waterhouse The sign held up on the public side of the mounting yard at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day proved pertinent: ‘This means everything to everyone in Oz’. Little argument pre-race; certainly none after it from the Victoria Racing Club, favourite backers and trainer Gai Waterhouse’s supporters, be they racing fans or not. The only win in this A$6 million Cup that could have topped Waterhouse’s breakthrough success with Fiorente would have been Bart Cummings’ 13th triumph, but unfortunately for the ailing maestro (who now trains in partnership with grandson James Cummings), his one final acceptor, Precedence, was stranded as number 25 when the final 24 were declared. The Waterhouse win, brilliantly plotted over the whole two-mile trip of Australia’s greatest race by Damien Oliver, underlined her position as the Queen of the Australian Turf. The VRC, media and punters bowed to a
Club, media and punters bowed to a success richly deserved after three seconds” success richly deserved after three seconds, including Fiorente’s after he was parachuted in from Sir Michael Stoute’s stable last year, and a policy to match Lloyd Williams’s plan of sourcing runners from Europe. Williams, Australia’s biggest spender on Cup prospects, had six runners but the best he could do was sixth with, ironically, locally-bred Fawkner. His imported purchases finished 12th (Seville), 13th (Sea Moon), 15th (Mourayan), 18th (Masked Marvel) and 21st (Green Moon, last year’s winner who pulled up lame). Of course, Williams is not the only one spending overseas as the European flavour becomes increasingly de rigueur. Australian purchases at the recent Tattersalls Horses In Training Sale illustrates this. Fiorente aside, the best of past buys was Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock’s Dandino, who backed up his Caulfield Cup
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BRONWEN HEALY
“The Victoria Racing
Trainer Gai Waterhouse follows Fiorente and Damien Oliver after their Cup triumph
second with a storming fifth – his late-race sectionals were second only to Fiorente as, for the second year in a row, Ryan Moore found himself with too much to do in the straight. Moore’s mount last year, Mount Athos, was fifth. This year trainer Luca Cumani and owner Marwan Koukash insisted their new Aussie jockey Craig Williams ride Mount Athos closer to the pace and, after working just a touch too hard to ensure a good position, he couldn’t withstand Fiorente and the Ed Dunlop-trained outsider Red Cadeaux. On his ‘Zimmer-frame tour’ – Dunlop’s amusing reference to the third visit by the ageing warrior – Red Cadeaux had his second runner-up finish. Michael Owen’s Brown Panther in eighth was brave and bloodied (superficial leg cuts), while Sheikh Fahad’s 2011 winner Dunaden found a third try beyond him and in 11th missed by three-quarters of a length on paying his way, as the VRC pays $125,000 down to tenth. Godolphin, having suggested Royal Empire was the right horse to bring Sheikh Mohammed’s Cup dream to fruition, have to wait at least another year, finishing 14th this time.
The saddest story, however, was Verema’s, the Aga Khan’s well-fancied mare breaking a cannon bone and having to be put down. As fervently as the VRC hopes Lady Gai’s breakthrough brings even more coverage and kudos to the race, just as passionately it wants the Aga Khan, and the French in general, to keep coming to back up the club’s claim it is “the race the world now wants”. Damien Oliver proved to be the jockey Waterhouse and Fiorente’s connections wanted. They sacked regular rider Nash Rawiller in a winning move and one that showed what a difference a year can make. ‘Ollie’ was criticised for his ride on Americain in the 2012 Cup and at carnival’s end was disqualified for ten months on a betting charge relating to a different race. Quizzed after this third Cup victory, Oliver said he had served his time for committing the crime and would not revisit the matter for the media. Waterhouse, as pragmatic as most in racing, said: “Didn’t he ride him a treat? I think it [choosing Oliver] was the crux. I think it was what won us the Cup.” THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER