French raider Americain thundered home on a rain-soaked Flemington racecourse to win the A$6 million (US$6 million) Melbourne Cup yesterday, overhauling fading favorite So You Think in the final stages of the race that stops a nation.
Jockey Gerald Mosse held up his mount run until the last 200m before unleashing the six-year-old stallion, who charged from third to first and finished more than two lengths ahead of Maluckyday and So You Think.
As Mosse rode triumphantly back to the unsaddling enclosure, his tri-colored cap and stars and stripes silks splattered with mud, he raised his finger to celebrate a first victory for a French-trained horse or jockey in the 3,200m race.
“In the last 200m I knew the race was done for me. I put faith in my horse and he came through,” Mosse told reporters. “This job is so easy when you’re in the best race on the best horse.”
On a dead track, with heavy rain falling only minutes before the start, Americain broke well from gate 12 in the 23-horse field for the 150th running of the race.
Americain was nowhere near the front for most of the grueling race, Mosse tucking his mount in the middle of the field, keeping slightly wide to try and find firmer footing.
“French horses like a little bit more room. I did not want it too rough for him. I just wanted him to relax,” Mosse added.
Around the last turn and down the long Flemington straight a group of horses led by So You Think broke wide to make their dash for home.
“I did not want to give them too much room. I took my vision but did not want to rock home. I saw So You Think get clear and run and followed him,” Mosse said.
Mosse spurred on Americain with the whip but, as he passed So You Think, he knew he had the race won.
“He was very, very strong over the last 250m and I knew I was going to catch him [So You Think],” Mosse said. “The bigger the race the easier it is for him to win. He is a nice horse, smart, easy to ride.”
Americain is American-bred but trained in France by Alain de Royer-Dupre.
Americain had been rested for the last few days, unlike most of the local challengers.
While French colors flew triumphantly over Flemington yesterday, the champagne was flowing for the two Australian owners of Americain, who bought the stallion for a mere A$225,000.
Gerry Ryan, a leading caravan manufacturer in Australia, and his partner Kevin Bamford, bought Americain from the House of -Chanel perfume kings Alain and Gerard Wertheimer.
“We bought him to run in the Melbourne Cup, not to win the Melbourne Cup,” Ryan said. “It’s a dream come true. I will have to keep pinching myself. We sat down five years ago and said let’s try and find a runner for the Cup and our third time was lucky.”
Many of the 110,200 who flocked to Flemington for the Cup celebrations were hoping for a 13th win for Australia’s octogenarian champion trainer Bart Cummings through favorite So You Think.
They had already had to contend with the wet weather that saw umbrellas sprouting like mushrooms on the lawn. However, minutes before the start of the race, the rain stopped and so did Australia.
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