The 2013 Melbourne Cup, the 153rd renewal of the great race, produced a memorable finish between the quality champion (and favourite) of the field Fiorente and an old warrior in Red Cadeaux.
It also produced more additions to the stats and trivia of the race that make it such a modern marvel. Let’s have a look at some of them.
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1. Fiorente
Fiorente became just the sixth horse to win the Cup after previously finishing second (in 2012). This is a tough ask since racing in the Cup just once and doing well is hard enough, without backing up a second time to do even better.
Fiorente joins Carbine (1889-90), The Grafter (1897-98), Westcourt (1915 and 17), Gold And Black (1976-77) and Empire Rose (1987-88) to follow a second placing with a win.
Incidentally, the following four horses won the Cup before finishing second at a later start: Lord Cardigan (1903-04), Rising Fast (1954-55), Light Fingers (1965-66) and Doriemus (1995 and 97).
Fiorente is an outstandingly black stallion of Irish heritage with German lineage.
2. Red Cadeaux
As Red Cadeaux passed the post in second place, his jockey Gerald Mosse patted him on his side in an overtly appreciative display of “well done, old fella”.
Red Cadeaux played Joe Frazier to Muhammed Ali and forced Fiorente to demonstrate his class by pushing him all the way to the line.
By finishing second twice in the Cup (in 2011 and 13), Red Cadeaux joined an illustrious group of “near-miss” horses – Mormon (1861-62), Shadow King (1931 and 33), Sarcherie (1934-35), and Maikai (1939-40).
Shadow King holds one of the most remarkable records in the proud history of the Cup. Not only does he hold the record number of placings (four), but in six starts he never finished worse than sixth.
Apart from his two seconds shown above, he finished third in 1930 and 32, fourth in 1935 and sixth in 1929. He did not start in 1934.
Sarcherie also added a third in 1937 to go with her two seconds. Mormon finished second to Archer in the first two Cups.
This remains the only time the same two horses have quinella-ed the race in successive years.
3. Damien Oliver
Brendan Cormick of The Australian is my favourite turf writer (among many worthy writers) and he has beautifully chronicled the master race that Oliver rode on Fiorente.
It was one thing for trainer Gai Waterhouse to have her charge at his peak for the Cup – so were half-a-dozen or more other horses. But in a tight contest, it is the jockey who can make the ultimate difference.
Oliver understood early the fast pace of the race. He raced Fiorente roughly midfield and wasn’t anxious to go forward in a fast pace race.
Historically, the key position is one off the fence, giving room either side to move and then letting the horse relax to conserve energy.
1000 metres out, Oliver switched Fiorente wider – not only to take advantage of firmer ground, but to prepare to attack on the bend and prevent being blocked by tiring horses coming back, as happened to Dandino.
Oliver decided to rein in Red Cadeaux slowly rather than quickly.
There were still plenty of metres to go and Oliver was wary of any horse that might swoop late. Red Cadeaux was reached in due course, then passed.
Basically, it was a masterclass ride.
At this point one might feel sorry for the regular jockey ‘bumped’ off Fiorente by the owners, Nash Rawiller. Could Rawiller have won the Cup on Fiorente?
Perhaps, but without being uncharitable, I think not.
Rawiller is a good jockey but Oliver is a better one – especially over longer distances, where both patience and judgment are critical.
Oliver’s three Cup wins (Doriemus 1995, Media Puzzle 2002, Fiorente 2013) allows him to join an illustrious group of jockeys to have won the Cup either three or four times.
They are Bobby Lewis (The Victory 1902, Patrobas 1915, Artilleryman 1919, Trivalve 1927), Harry White (Think Big 1974-75, Arwon 1978, Hyperno 1979), WH ‘Midge’ McLachlan (Prince Foote 1909, Comedy King 1910, Westcourt 1917), Darby Munro (Peter Pan 1934, Sirius 1944, Russia 1946), Jack Purtell (Hiraji 1947, Wodalla 1953, Rising Fast 1954), Jim Johnson (Gatum Gatum 1963, Rain Lover 68-69) and Glen Boss (Makybe Diva 2003-04-05).
4. Gai Waterhouse
Sometimes I don’t mind being wrong. I told friends and colleagues I wouldn’t bet on any of Gai’s horses as I thought she overtrained her stayers – like her dad, Tommy Smith.
The spartan training might help her sprinters and milers, and even middle distance runners, but I felt she wore her stayers out before they were ready to run.
I was wrong, and happy to say so.
I’m also happy for her to win her first Melbourne Cup and become the first Australian woman, and second woman after New Zealand’s Sheila Laxton (with Ethereal in 2001), to train a Cup winner.
But spare a thought for Mrs AW McDonald. She was the registered New Zealand trainer of 1938 Melbourne Cup winner Catalogue.
Because Victorian laws of the day prevented granting training licenses to women, Mrs McDonald’s husband was officially recorded as Catalogue’s trainer.
It’s been a long, tough road for Waterhouse. She had to go to the high court to get her training license because racing officials were not keen to give her a training license because her bookmaker husband Rob was considered an “undesirable person” at the time.
Rob Waterhouse had been involved in the Fine Cotton scandal, whereby a moderately performed horse had been switched with a better performed horse in order to fleece the betting ring.
Rob’s involvement and knowledge of the scandal was never fully proven beyond reasonable doubt, but mud has stuck with the family.
Gai had previously trained three runners-up in the Cup, Te Akau Nick (1993), Nothin Leica Dane (1995) and Fiorente (2012).
But finally, she has emulated her beloved father Tommy.
The Waterhouse family are not everyone’s cup of tea. They combine elements of two leviathans of Australian racing in former rails bookmaker Bill Waterhouse and former super trainer Tommy Smith.
Gai’s son Tom is now a high profile corporate bookmaker.
Personally, I’m not a fan of Gai’s black and white “you’re either with us or agin us” philosophy.
There’s no doubt she is an extremely hard worker and has done much for the racing industry and is beloved by many of her owners and the racing public at large.
She is a massive role model for women.
For now, I salute her success, and generously so, she deserves it. But there are other elements of the family behaviour that remain unresolved in the public domain.
5. The Betting
Aficionados are calling this the strongest Cup field ever assembled, with so many horses considered capable of winning the race beforehand.
While the smart money still flowed to favourite Fiorente, the fact he was priced at $7 and the only horse under double figures demonstrated the punters’ uncertainty.
Another eight horses had starting prices between $10-19, while a further eight horses were priced between $20-29.
17 horses priced at under $30 was quite remarkable. I also thought the 2012 Cup field was exceptionally strong.
By comparison in 2012, four horses started under $10, another four were priced at $10-19, while another four were priced at $20-29.
At the other end, the outsider in 2013 was priced at $64.50, compared to $151 in 2012, plus another three at $101.
All in all, the 2013 edition of the Melbourne Cup was a memorable one, won by a champion racehorse with a champion jockey and a champion trainer, who had to beat a champion field.
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