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The 2014 Melbourne Cup has been won by Protectionist, with the German horse ridden by jockey Ryan Moore storming clear to win.
Let’s take a closer look at who won, and who lost in the wash-up of the big race.
Winners
Winner: Protectionist
Protectionist ticked the boxes – he’d run here in the lead-up to the race, he’d won big races in Europe including the Prix Kergorlay in France (which was won earlier by Americain in 2010 and produced four of the first five across the line in 2011).
He was immense – he steamed home with jockey Ryan Moore. Moore and Protectionist were crowded early, and waited for his chance, weaving his way through from the 1000m mark before home. He stayed, and won by five lengths.
Winner: Kris Lees
The Newcastle trainer gets to train Protectionist – with the horse staying in Australia. Lees trained the beaten Lucia Valentina today, but he’ll be excited to get to train a winner as dominant as Protectionist was.
Winner: Red Cadeaux
What a war horse this guy is – his fourth Melbourne Cup run, and another second for his trained Ed Dunlop. He was magnificent running second and genuinely looked a winning chance – and still paid more than $5 for the place as everyone looked somewhere else.
Last year was meant to be his last year, but if he’s going as well as he is, he could be back for a ridiculous fifth Melbourne Cup. Could it be possible? What a horse.
Other winners: Punters who read The Roar – Protectionist was tipped by The Roar’s own Justin Cinque and Andrew Hawkins tipped the first five home from five picks.
Losers: Horses that couldn’t stay
Every year, horses that win up to 2000m or 2400m get a run in the Cup. Every year, those horses have to stretch to 3200m, often for the first time in their career. Each year, questions are asked: can they stay? And invariably, under a true staying test with pace applied throughout, those horses fail.
Some years they get away with it, when the pace is soft and it’s set up for a fast run home. Think Usain Bolt – if you walk three kilometres with him, he’ll beat you in the last 200m by a mile. But a genuine marathon runner runs as fast as he can for the full 3200m, he’ll probably beat Usain – it’s the nature of speed vs stamina.
Fawkner was one of those – his sire was Reset, a horse that won up to 1600m. This was a 3200m staying race. He finished 10th, a mile back, and didn’t stay.
The beaten jockeys of Lidari and Brambles said the same thing: didn’t stay. Lucia Valentina’s jockey said “[she] was a little suspect at the trip”.
That’s the problem with Australian racing – the horses are skewed to run shorter distances, and there’s just not many races at 3000m or beyond. It’s no surprise that internationals can come here, with the right preparations, and beat our lot.
It doesn’t happen in sprints, where we’re dominant, but it does in races at 2400m and beyond.
Losers: International horses without a run in Australia
Sure – the German international Protectionist won – but he’d had two runs in Australia before trying to take on the Melbourne Cup.
Red Cadeaux, in second, is one of the few that just doesn’t need a lead-up run, as one of the best travelling horses in the world – possibly ever.
Before this year, 74 horses had come to Australia and without a lead up run, been unable to win. After today, that number sits at more than 80. Why do they keep doing it?
One more statistic – in the last 10 years, 31 Internationals that have taken a lead up run have resulted in four Melbourne Cup winners.
Losers:
Lloyd Williams
Lloyd couldn’t repeat the magic from 2012, with his one runner in the field, Fawkner, given a leading chance, coming 10th. Sea Moon was scratched.
Don’t feel bad for Lloyd, he’ll be back for more.
Godolphin stable:
Godolphin – yet again can’t get a Cup win. Their only runner, Willing Foe, was 5th, with Cavalryman scratched earlier. This is the world’s biggest stable, but they can’t crack the big one in Melbourne.
The highs and lows of the Cup
Admire Rakti
Something went wrong for Admire Rakti. He found himself in a leading position, but his jockey looked to ease him out of the race completely. He went across the line a long long last.
Update: It has been reported that Admire Rakti has sadly died – collapsing in his stalls in an awful post-Cup twist.
The horse was magnificent in winning Caulfield cup a little over a fortnight ago, and had gained a huge following of fans. Rest in peace, up there in a big grassy paddock in the sky fella.