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.
balanced
Guest
@ MV joef; nice to see someone else who knows their history. Opinions are like elbows, everyone's got two, but opining that TJ couldn't train a stayer is about as plausible as opining that Bradman couldn't hold a bat.
kv joef
Guest
a sound retort 'balanced'. i've generally tired of the nonsense that keeps being regurgitated. It is nonsense because as you've pointed out it lacks evidence. It's just the tittle-tattle of bad gamblers. So i'll join you 'balanced' and like to remind the anti-TJ throng that he is held with GREATEST RESPECT by his peers because HE CHANGED THE WAY THINGS WERE DONE - the way horses were worked, the way horses were fed, the way horses were vetted and the way they raced. there is not one trainer in this country that does not employ methods developed by TJ Smith whether they know it or not. HE DID IT FIRST - before the yanks, poms, whoever you like. And while the stupid will quickly align his success to the stable refrigerator ... i and others can assure you whoever was first ... the hunting pack were only a few months behind. And in the end only great great trainers transverse decades at the top. He won his first trainers premiership with a handful of horses and held that title for 2/3 generations. As for GW, all i can say is that she defines the modern woman in choosing her own destiny and i personally couldn't think of more excellent role-model for a young female. She didn't have to marry a waterhouse, she didn't have to seek to emulate her father in a time when women couldn't even become members of the AJC. I had casually known TJ and GW a long, long time ago and been fortunate enough to watch GW though her career. She has run her own race and won. Congratulations on a life well lived with more to come.
balanced
Guest
Sheek, You wondered aloud on another thread why you only got two responses to this? Really? Apart from yet another bash at Gai Waterhouse, which the tabloid blogs have already done to death, I'm not sure what this article actually offered. You've quoted a bunch of stats, and basically the only opinion/comment you've made is the back-hander that you didn't think GW could train a stayer, much like her father. If you are going to let prejudice and ignorance be the basis of your articles, then it's hardly surprising that you'll generate little interest on a site that has a reputation for intelligent content, at least in other sports. It's your business whether you like someone or not, but the comment about her and TJ's ability with stayers is just so ridiculous that it cannot go uncorrected. TJ still holds the world record for the number of derby winners (somewhere in the high 30's), an odd record to be held by a bloke who couldn't train stayers. He won two Melbourne cups, four caulfield cups and from memory eight metropolitans, bearing in mind that for much of his career the Metrop was more important than the Caulfield cup. He won umpteen Sydney and Brisbane cups in an era where they were major races, and there's not a single staying race on the calendar he didn't win multiple times. Four of his horses are in the Hall of Fame and each of them won G1s at 2500m and upwards. Any "opinion" that he couldn't train stayers is too ridiculous for words. As to GW, you clearly don't remember the first part of her career when the criticism was that she could ONLY train stayers. Early in her career she won something like 8 Metrops or Sydney cups and had two Melbourne cup seconds with outsiders - far better training efforts than winning the cup with fiorente. Because her early career was so biased towards staying horses, she was actually criticised in the media in the late 1990s for being unable to train 2yos. She had never had a decent 2yo, and as hard as it is to imagine now, in 1999 she won only one 2yo race. She responded in an interview that she had never focussed on 2yos, but had recently decided to concentrate more on that area, and hoped to have more to show going forward. That next season she won 9 2yo races. The one after she trifecta'd the Golden Slipper. That led to an era where she was given virtually nothing but esrly types by studs and owners and as a consequence she dominated in that area. Then she said publically about 5 years ago that she wanted to get actively involved with stayers again, and since then she has trained a caulfield and now a Melbourne cup winner. As I said, it is your prerogative not to like her as a person, and both you and your mate Alfred clearly have a resentment of the husband's family, and no one can stop you speculating that they drown puppies or beat up orphans for fun. But if you want to be respected as a racing contributor and not a gossip columnist, you need to be able to put aside personal animosity and offer objective opinion and analysis. Suggesting that TJ Smith couldn't train stayers or that GW has proven anything now she didn't prove 20 years ago are equally nonsense.
sheek
Roar Guru
Hi Alfred, Thanks for that alternate view of Gai. Very illuminating. I was trying to be balanced in my thoughts of Gai. I wanted to be balanced in acknowledging her achievement. However, they did an article for one of the TV channels some time back & I didn't find any warmth in her at all coming through her personality. She's comes across breezy, but also cold & hard. And she nitpicked all the stable hands throughout the show - "Why are you doing this, why is this still here, haven't they got rid of that rubbish yet, why is that there", etc, etc. Gai is a micro-manager, & in my experience micro-managers are the worst. They stifle just about everything - independent thought & action, desire, initiative, confidence, inspiration. If you trust your judgement when you first employ someone, you then leave them alone to do their job. Yes, you set the parameters but let the staff get on with the job. Give them their space. Yes, Gai might be a woman, but based on your research above, she apparently doesn't do enough for female jockeys herself. The Waterhouses definitely know how to manage & manipulate the media.
Alfred Chan
Expert
Great article sheek! I'm not sure Gai is a massive role model for women though. I've recently been doing a bit of work with female jockeys and I interviewed David Hayes in the process. Hayes does a lot of great things for women in the industry evidenced by his use of Kayla Nisbet who he cannot speak highly enough of. He also recommended I speak to Gai instead of him because she is supposedly the biggest advocate of women in the industry. I went through Gai's use of provincial jockeys (the most common place for female riders) and she has no sympathy for them. Where she can use experienced riders, her preferences are Adam Hyronomous and Thomas Huet. Compare that to Chris Waller's repeated use of Jessica Collett, Kathy O'Hara and Jenny Duggan or Guy Walter's retainment of O'Hara as the stable's second rider. Gai has very occasionally hired O'Hara but she's about the 7th call she makes. If Gai wants to be a proper advocate of women, she could hire a few more female hoops. With her power as one of the major stables in Sydney, she has the chance to make the careers of young women and give them a leg up on their male counterparts.