The Australian Cup is unsponsored, worth only $1 million, oddly named – since it’s in Melbourne and the Melbourne Cup is the main race in Australia – and now oddly positioned in the Australian racing calendar.
Yet the honour roll goes all the way back to 1863, with Barwon, and includes dual winners such as Woodman, Craftsman and Welkin Prince – well before my time but these must have been very popular horses of the day.
More recently the names become more familiar with Bonecrusher, Octagonal and Better Loosen Up all saluting. It even has Melbourne Cup form, with winners such as Leilani, Let’s Elope, Saintly and the great Makybe Diva.
Last year I had the honour and privilege of having an up-close involvement with Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente. With the blessing and support of Gai Waterhouse and the large ownership group, I was able to package up an ‘Ownerforaday‘ experience like no other, with all funds going to charity 4Tracks4kids.
To have a Melbourne Cup winner return to Flemington is a huge marketing coup for the VRC, and I was hoping for – rather than expecting – a win by Fiorente. The mounting yard was abuzz on such a big Group 1 race day and the winners of the prize were a little bit intimidated meeting both trainer Gai and jockey Damien Oliver before the race. Afterwards they described it as the biggest adrenaline rush and highlight of any sporting experience they had ever attended.
Fiorente won the 2014 Australian Cup, thus providing a Group 1 over 2000 metres for his stallion career, and then whisked off to stud at Eliza Park. I thought I had little or no chance of repeating that Ownerforaday experience, but if any horse in the Melbourne Cup field of 2014 that was capable it was Protectionist.
So I dutifully backed Protectionist in the Melbourne Cup – after also being given the tip by Lee Freedman at The Cup Club Racing Lunch – hopeful that he could win so that I could do Ownerforaday at this year’s Australian Cup.
The plan came off and Protectionist is lining up in the race, despite not winning the Peter Young at Caulfield over 1800 metres as Fiorente had last year.
But while I am cheering home Protectionist, my real job is as Chief Executive of the Cup Club, and we have a horse running in Greatwood.
The Cup Club is a new and innovative racing members club where you become a member, not unlike a footy team’s coterie supporters group, and gain a premium owner’s experience. Our current stable of 11 includes overseas-bred stayers such as Greatwood, Excess Knowledge and Bonfire.
Our members get to experience top level racing at Flemington, Randwick, Rosehill and Caulfield with top trainers Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller, Kris Lees and young up-and-comer Archie Alexander, all for a fixed price that alternatively would buy you a 5 per cent share in a yearling that may or may not win a country maiden. It’s all about creating racing experiences for members.
Greatwood is the last-start winner of the Parramatta Cup and has a win over subsequent Group 1 winner He’s Your Man. With The Cleaner the obvious leader, hopefully Greatwood can get a soft trail and maybe, just maybe, kick and be hard to get past in the straight. I will be cheering with more than a dozen Cup Club members in attendance, who not only will be dining in the Chairman’s Club but hopefully sipping champagne in the winners’ enclosure.
The founder of the Cup Club, my business partner John Wall, has a share in the OTI runner Au Revoir. John set up the Cup Club with the aim of winning the Melbourne Cup and it certainly was a huge thrill for him to see Au Revoir give such a great showing at the Melbourne Cup and then go out and win the Zipping Classic.
OTI founder Terry Henderson and Simon O’Donnell virtually pioneered the process of buying European-proven stayers with the goal of winning the Melbourne Cup. They came so close with Buaer in 2008 and Terry has won previously with Doriemus, but these guys still have an all-encompassing passion of winning the great race. It’s amazing to work and discuss staying pedigrees with these guys (and a little-known side benefit is being able to mingle with Francesca Cumani, who consults for OTI).
Au Revoir has now been transferred to the Peter Moody stable and he certainly had success with other OTI stayers such as Manighar, who won the Australian Cup in 2012. However John is overseas this weekend, so I will be representing him as racing manager.
So I have a stake in all three horses, and hope they all run well. What odds of running the trifecta!
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