After a decade of fears that European and even Japanese raiders would increasingly dominate the Melbourne Cup, a new generation of Australian and New Zealand stayers is emerging to lead the resistance. And that was perfectly illustrated on Saturday, when the multi-G1-winning mare Verry Elleegant held off 2019 Epsom Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck to win the historic AU$5 million Caulfield Cup.
When Vow And Declare beat Europeans Prince Of Arran and Il Paradiso in last year's Melbourne Cup (see video below) , the sigh of relief from Australian racegoers could be heard around the world. An Australian stayer was fancied to perform well and for once didn't let the home side down. Nor did Surprise Baby, who ran a highly credible fifth. But, after that the pickings were slim for the hosts.
It gave a hint, though, that Australia and New Zealand, who share an unbreakable bond with the world’s richest staying race, were finally starting to produce and train horses capable of matching it with the visitors, who for years have made a habit of taking the lion’s share of the AU$8 million home with them. In the past decade, only two Australians - three if you count European import Fiorente - had won the Melbourne Cup. In that time, the raiders had filled 20 of the 30 placings.
The question needed to be asked. Was last year the start of a trend or simply an anomaly? Sure, Prince Of Penzance had won the great race in 2015, but that result didn’t appear to have any long-term significance. Indeed, the win was overshadowed by his jockey, Michelle Payne, becoming the first woman to ever ride the winner. And POP started 100/1, having been little more than a G3 stayer leading into the race and wasn’t expected to replicate the form after his famous win. He had five more starts, for one placing at Morphettville in a G3.
Last year had a different feel. It was hoped both Vow And Declare and Surprise Baby would live up to their promise, and they certainly did. They gave the impression, if they trained on, they’d be back in 2020 to do Australia proud. In fact, the situation improved, with several new Australian-trained stayers and an exceptional Kiwi staking their claims in recent months.
Irish-bred but Australian-trained Russian Camelot emerged as a potential superstar earlier this year, winning the G1 South Australian Derby in May at just his fifth race start before claiming the G1 Underwood Stakes in the southern spring. Either side of the win, the son of Camelot ran excellent seconds also in G1 weight-for-age races.
It should be noted, of course, that Russian Camelot’s first priority is this coming Saturday’s AU$5 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley, the most prestigious middle-distance weight-for-age race in the Southern Hemisphere.
Surprise Baby missed the local autumn but showed he had returned as strong as ever in the spring with close-up finishes at the highest level.
Outstanding New Zealand-bred mare Verry Elleegant, meanwhile, has developed from an Oaks-winning dual G1 winner to dominate the WFA scene in her 4- and 5-year-old seasons. She had added four further G1s to her name by Saturday afternoon.
This trio (Russian Camelot, Surprise Baby and Verry Elleegant) dominated early markets for the Melbourne Cup despite news that Aidan O'Brien was bringing a powerful team for the race - including the barely-tested but highly-promising Tiger Moth and Anthony Van Dyck. With Verry Elleegant, who is trained by Chris Waller in Sydney, now adding the Caulfield Cup to her resume (see video below), Australian runners still hold three of the top four market positions just two weeks out from the great race.
Further down the market, Vow And Declare has not been in great form but is a proven commodity, and Adelaide Cup winner King Of Leogrance is aiming towards the great race. Last year's Victoria Derby winner, Warning, has resumed with two slashing runs just behind the placegetters in G1 company, NZ-bred Victorian Oceanex, exempt from a ballot in the Melbourne Cup, is simply waiting for the races to get longer to show her best and Kiwi The Chosen One showed with a close Caulfield Cup third behind Verry Elleegant and Anthony Van Dyck that he is coming good at the right time. The team is taking shape.
New Zealand trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman were particularly happy with The Chosen One’s effort, writes NZ Racing Desk. The 5-year-old son of Savabeel cast off some indifferent recent form, stalking the leaders on the home corner before bursting to the front at the 300-metre mark. Despite being swamped in the final 100 metres by Verry Elleegant and Anthony Van Dyck, The Chosen One fought hard to finish just a length from the winner.
Forsman credited the addition of blinkers and a good barrier draw as the key elements for the improved performance. “It was a massive buzz to see him do that against such a quality field,” Forsman said. “Flemington really suits him so it comes down to whether he can get another good barrier draw and, if he does, then he is a strong top-five chance in the race.”
If Australia’s staying depth has improved, the next question is simple. Why? Perhaps it’s because the nation that prides itself on an historic staying race but breeds and caters for speed is finally giving more than lip service to the calls for greater opportunity. That seems to be starting with better race programming.
The 2800m Andrew Ramsden, formerly the Duke of Norfolk Stakes, has been boosted from an autumn race for lower-class stayers to a ballot-exempt race for the Melbourne Cup, held in May. Likewise, the 2500m Bart Cummings - named after the 12-time Melbourne Cup-winning legend - had appropriately become a race that qualifies the winner for the big race.
These have been added to the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Lexus Stakes (traditionally the Hotham Handicap) as races that offer the winner a golden ticket to the Flemington two-miler.
The Andrew Ramsden, in particular, gives Australian stayers a boost because, six months out from the Cup, they're not likely to be running into overseas stayers.
One of the main criticisms of recent years has related not to winning the great race but actually getting a start in it. For at least the past five years, visitors have made up half the field, with most gaining a start because of the weight and credibility they’re given for winning G2 and G3 races overseas.
Further avenues
Every year, there are complaints about the visitors being given a ‘free pass’ into the race. Some can be put down to parochial scepticism, others carry some weight - with weight the operative word. This year, the exciting 3-year-old Tiger Moth, narrow runner-up in the Irish Derby in July, was originally handicapped on 50kg (7 stone 8lb) but copped a 2.5 kg (5.5lb) penalty for winning the G3 Kilternan Stakes at Leopardstown. While that will make it harder to win the race, it guarantees him the start he may otherwise have missed.
To put it in perspective, the David Hayes-trained Boom Time was given just 1 kg extra for winning the 2017 Caulfield Cup, rated as the best 2400m handicap in the world and obviously a far superior race to the Kilternan. One year later, Best Solution was already guaranteed a Melbourne Cup start and escaped a penalty altogether for winning at Caulfield. While the Tiger Moth penalty was highly controversial in Australia, local connections could at least console themselves with the knowledge that there are now further avenues open to guarantee their horses a start.
If Russian Camelot wins this year’s Melbourne Cup for Melbourne trainer Danny O’Brien, there will be calls that it wasn’t an Australian win anyway as the 4yo was bred in Ireland.
But then again, triple Melbourne Cup-winning legend Makybe Diva was bred in England. It’s a start and if he wins - or Surprise Baby, Verry Elleegant or any other Australian or NZ-trained stayer wins - it will be an endorsement of the fightback, and it will show that perhaps the locals are capable of matching it with the best from overseas.