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Melbourne Cup - Tuesday 5th November 2013 |
2013 Melbourne Cup
02/09/13
It’s that time of year again – 12,000 miles away in Melbourne, Australia, things are heating up as anticipation grows ahead of ‘the race that stops a nation’ – the unique Melbourne Cup.
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Godolphin's Melbourne Cup aspirations received a welcome boost with the emergence of promising stayer Royal Empire, who saw off a strong challenge from the 2011 Cup runner up Red Cadeaux in the Group Two Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury on Saturday August 17.
Saeed bin Suroor has a handful of contenders, with Lonsdale Cup winner Ahzeemah, Colour Vision, and Songcraft in the mix.
Rising star Puissance De Lune is currently the favourite, having put in a devastating display in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield on August 17.
“He is an exciting stayer and his jockey Glen Boss rates Puissance De Lune up there with three-time Melbourne Cup Makybe Diva and Cox Plate winner So You Think. If this horse keeps winning he could be a very short price when the big majors come around,” sportsbet.com.au’s Ben Hawes said.
Mount Athos and Brown Panther, trained by Luca Cumani and Tom Dascombe respectively, are both prominent in the ante-post market for the two-mile Group One heat. Mount Athos finished fifth last year and was last seen claiming a narrow second in a Goodwood Listed event, while the Michael Owen-owned Brown Panther triumphed in the Goodwood Cup on his most recent outing.
Red Cadeaux hit the crossbar for Ed Dunlop in the race back in 2011 and is one of two entries for the trainer along with Joshua Tree. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Opinion disappointed in the Ebor last time but has been given an Australian entry, along with fellow York also-ran Caravan Rolls On from the Peter Chapple-Hyam yard.
David Lanigan has two possibles in Biographer and Main Sequence, while Marco Botti's American St Leger winner Dandino, Ed Walker's Ruscello and the William Haggas-trained Sun Central are other British contenders.
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Henderson told the Telegraph: "We've put him in and we're going through the paperwork for quarantine, which would have to start pretty soon, so we're keen. But we'll have to wait and see what happens when the weights are out."
Irish champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins is also hoping Simenon makes the cut.
Runner-up in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Lonsdale Cup at York, the six-year-old could need a penalty in a prep race in Australia to get into the race.
Mullins said: "We're very keen to go. We hadn't envisaged running him again here but would look to run him before the Melbourne Cup in Australia."
Dermot Weld has twice won the race for Ireland and he has entered Pale Mimosa and Voleuse De Coeurs.
Aidan O'Brien has a clutch of entries with Ernest Hemingway, Foundry and Leading Light, and Johnny Murtagh has a possible in Royal Diamond.
Dunaden, winner of the race in 2011, has been entered once again by Mikel Delzangles, with John Hammond's Hammerfest, Andre Fabre's Only A Pleasure, Trevieres and Alain de Royer-Dupre's Verema in the French challenge.
Some familiar ex-British runners also feature in the contenders. The Queen's Carlton House, now trained by Gai Waterhouse, and Robert Hickmott's pair of 2011 St Leger hero Masked Marvel and last year's Great Voltigeur winner Thought Worthy catch the eye.
Another former British-trained horse Green Moon won the Melbourne Cup for Hickmott last year and he is entered to defend his title, while Bart Cummings, who has won the race 12 times, has one entry in Precedence, who he trains in partnership with his grandson James.
Racing Victoria's Greg Carpenter said: "The Emirates Melbourne Cup is the world's premier staying race and the quality of the local and international entries for this year's race is outstanding.
"To have the past two winners in Green Moon and Dunaden, together with representatives from most of Europe's premier stables, amongst the nominations is testimony to the stature of the Melbourne Cup on the world stage.
"For the first time in the Cup's history, internationals account for more than 20% of the total entries and the number of Northern Hemisphere-bred entrants has risen above 50% which best illustrates the internationalisation of the race over the past two decades.
"Whilst the quality of the international nominees is impressive, we're equally pleased with the depth of talent amongst the locally-trained entrants which includes three of the first four home in last year's Melbourne Cup - Green Moon, Fiorente and Kelinni."
Betting
Melbourne Cup betting is easily the biggest betting event in Australia and among the most prestigious races for any punter in the world.
The record for Melbourne Cup dividends is a huge $61,867.90, with this amount paid out in 1993 (the winner that year being Vintage Crop). 2009 proved to be another especially popular year among bettors, with no less than $95.6m laid out on TABs in Victoria and New South Wales. It is entirely possible that these records could be broken in the Melbourne Cup of 2013.
Betting on the Melbourne Cup can be a tricky, often unpredictable business, with out of 151 races, just 32 favourites having won. Indeed, no favourite has won the Cup since 2005, when Makybe Diva won its third gong in a row.
However, new contenders are likely to emerge between now and the great race, with changing all the time according to myriad factors.
History
The very first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861, when in front of a mere 4000 people the illustrious Archer won in what remains the slowest time ever.
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The stars
Archer must count as perhaps the Cup’s first true great, winning in both 1861 and 1862. Another legendary name of global racing appears on the Melbourne Cup role of honour: the great Phar Lap won in 1930. Other key horses in the Cup’s history include Peter Pan, winner in 1932 and 1934, Rain Lover (1968 and 1969) and of course Makybe Diva, the only horse to ever win three Melbourne Cups in a row (2003-2005).
As far as trainers are concerned, one figure dominates above all others: Bart Cummings. He has trained winners no less than 12 times, way ahead of closest rivals Etienne de Maistre and Lee Freedman. As far as jockeys go, both Harry White and Bobby Lewis have won the Cup four times.
Perhaps though, the biggest star of the Melbourne Cup is the course itself, a legendary 3,200-metre stretch of Victorian turf.
Emirates Melbourne Cup 2012 (GROUP 1)
3200m $6,000,000
24 ran
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Wg | Margin | Odds | |
| 1st | GREEN MOON(5) | Brett Prebble | Robert Hickmott | 53.5 | 3-20.45 | $18/$20 |
| 2nd | FIORENTE(2) | James McDonald | Gai Waterhouse | 53.5 | 1.0L | $31/$31 |
| 3rd | JAKKALBERRY(19) | Colm O'Donoghue | Marco Botti | 55.5 | 2.3L | $71/$81 |
| 4th | KELINNI(10) | Glen Boss | Chris Waller | 51.0 | 3.0L | $18/$19 |
| 5th | MOUNT ATHOS(8) | Ryan Moore | Luca Cumani | 54.0 | 3.2L | $7.50/$7.50 |
| 6th | GLENCADAM GOLD(7) | Tommy Berry | Gai Waterhouse | 53.5 | 4.0L | $41/$41 |
| 7th | MOURAYAN(3) | Hugh Bowman | Robert Hickmott | 53.5 | 4.7L | $26/$26 |
| 8th | RED CADEAUX(18) | Michael Rodd | Ed Dunlop | 55.5 | 5.7L | $9.50/$9.50 |
| 9th | PRECEDENCE(20) | Blake Shinn | Bart Cummings | 53.0 | 5.9L | $101/$101 |
| 10th | MY QUEST FOR PEACE(1) | Corey Brown | Luca Cumani | 53.5 | 6.1L | $17/$18 |
| 11th | AMERICAIN(12) | Damien Oliver | Alain de Royer Dupre | 58.0 | 6.5L | $8/$7.50 |
| 12th | CAVALRYMAN(6) | Frankie Dettori | Saeed Bin Suroor | 54.0 | 7.5L | $26/$31 |
| 13th | VOILA ICI(13) | Vlad Duric | Peter G Moody | 55.0 | 7.8L | $101/$101 |
| 14th | DUNADEN(16) | Craig Williams | Mikel Delzangles | 59.0 | 9.8L | $7/$7F |
| 15th | NIWOT(15) | Dwayne Dunn | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 53.5 | 9.9L | $61/$71 |
| 16th | LIGHTS OF HEAVEN(17) | Luke Nolen | Peter G Moody | 53.0 | 10.7L | $17/$20 |
| 17th | WINCHESTER(22) | Jamie Mott | John Sadler | 55.5 | 10.9L | $61/$61 |
| 18th | SANAGAS(4) | Nicholas Hall | Bart Cummings | 54.0 | 11.3L | $41/$51 |
| 19th | MALUCKYDAY(9) | Jim Cassidy | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 53.5 | 11.7L | $15/$17 |
| 20th | GALILEO'S CHOICE(11) | Patrick Smullen | Dermot K Weld | 53.5 | 11.8L | $15/$16 |
| 21st | UNUSUAL SUSPECT(23) | Glyn Schofield | Michael Kent | 53.0 | 11.9L | $151/$151 |
| 22nd | ZABEELIONAIRE(24) | Craig Newitt | Leon Corstens | 52.0 | 12.1L | $31/$51 |
| 23rd | TAC DE BOISTRON(21) | Olivier Doleuze | Michael Kent | 53.5 | 13.3L | $71/$101 |
| 24th | ETHIOPIA(14) | Rhys McLeod | Pat Carey | 53.5 | 63.3L | $21/$21 |
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Guide to the 'race that stops a nation'. Includes Melbourne Cup odds, runners, trainers and jockey profiles. |
Melbourne Cup Timeline
1861 – The first Melbourne Cup was run and won by Archer, ridden by John Cutts
and trained by Etienne De Mestre. The first prize was a gold watch and 930
pounds and the event attracted a crowd 4,000 people
1865 – The first year a trophy was awarded, which was a silver bowl on a stand with
a narrow neck with two ornate handles and topped with a horse and jockey
1873 – The smallest ever Melbourne Cup field with seven starters
1875 – The first time the Melbourne Cup was run on the first Tuesday in November
1877 - Melbourne Cup became a public holiday for Victorians
1880 – First Melbourne Cup to attract an attendance of 100,000
1890 – Carbine won the Melbourne Cup in record time (3.28.25) carrying a record
weight (65.5kg) in the biggest field ever assembled (39)
1896 – The first ever Melbourne Cup to be captured on film
1925 – Melbourne radio station 3LO broadcast a live commentary of the Cup for the
very first time
1930 – Phar Lap makes history, winning races on each of the four days of the
Melbourne Cup Carnival
1948 – Photo finishing was used for the first time to decide the winner with Rimfire
winning over Dark Marne by a nose length
1965 – Light Fingers wins the Melbourne Cup to provide Bart Cummings with his first
Melbourne Cup win
1972 – The first metric running of the Melbourne Cup with the two-mile distance
becoming 3,200 metres
1990 – The fastest run Melbourne Cup was won by Kingston Rule in 3:16.3 minutes
1993 – The first time the great race is won by an international horse, Vintage Crop
from Dublin
2001 – Carbine inducted into the Hall of Fame
