Gai Waterhouse has claimed her first Melbourne Cup with Fiorente to firmly prove herself not just one of the best trainers in Australia, but the world.
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“To the horse, he’s a pleasure to train. From the moment he stepped into Flemington twelve months ago, he’s never disappointed us,” said Waterhouse.
Waterhouse also gave plenty of praise to her winning rider, Damien Oliver.
“To Damien, you steered him a treat. It was joyous to watch.”
Waterhouse commenced her training career back in 1992 when she took over her father and hall-of-fame trainer Tommy Smith’s Tulloch Lodge.
Without a Melbourne Cup victory, Gai has been training in the shadows of her father who won two. But that is no longer the case, with Waterhouse now winning Australia’s richest race on her own.
The Melbourne Cup has been the missing piece of Waterhouse’s trophy room after winning just about every other race in the country.
Waterhouse has come agonisingly close to victory in the Melbourne Cup but Fiorente’s victory proudly lifted the pressure off her shoulders after training Te Akau Nick in 1993, Nothin’ Leica Dane in 1995 and Fiorente in 2012 all into second place in the Cup.
With today’s victory, Fiorente becomes just the fourth horse in the history of the Cup to win the following year after running second.
Fiorente was sent out as the $7 favourite. Waterhouse and son Tom had been talking Fiorente up all week and they walked the talk today.
Two years ago, Waterhouse was involved in a bidding war with Melbourne trainer Michael Moroney to purchase Fiorente from Europe. Waterhouse eventually won the bidding war and purchased the 2013 Melbourne Cup winner for $1million.
The $3.6million pay check for today’s win has firmly vindicated Waterhouse’s decision to purchase the Melbourne Cup winner.
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