Fame Up For Grabs in the Cup

The Japanese have made no secret of their desire to win the world’s most important racing contests, and while they put their name on the Melbourne Cup honor roll in 2006 courtesy of Delta Blues (Jpn) (Dance in the Dark {Jpn}), the nation has two chances to take the Cup–along with the lion’s share of it’s a $6 million purse–home once again Tuesday with favorite Fame Game (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) and Hokko Brave (Jpn) (Marvelous Sunday {Jpn}). The 5-year-old Fame Game, campaigned by Sunday Racing, won Tokyo’s 3400-meter G3 Diamond S. Feb. 21 before finishing second to the multiple Group 1-winning Gold Ship (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) over this trip in the prestigious G1 Tenno Sho Spring May 3. The bay was making his first start for 167 days when a troubled sixth in the G1 Caulfield Cup Oct. 17, and is not hurt by his draw in gate 12. Hokko Brave finished sixth behind Fame Game in the Tenno Sho and 10th in the Caulfield Cup.

The complexion of the Melbourne Cup has changed more in recent years than perhaps any other race on the planet, with more internationals than ever hungry to snag the contest and the participation of shippers and imports on the rise. Eleven of the 24 runners are trained outside Australia and a further seven were imported from Europe.

The Coolmore partners won their first Australian major, the G1 Cox Plate, last year with Adelaide (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and that operation offers up two Aidan O’Brien shippers in the form of Kingfisher (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Bondi Beach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The 4-year-old Kingfisher, a stakes winner over 14 furlongs at Leopardstown in Ireland in June, was most recently eighth behind stable companion Order Of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Irish St Leger Sept. 13 while Bondi Beach, a year younger, enters this contest off a pair of seconds: in the G2 Great Voltigeur S. at York Aug. 19 and in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster Sept. 12. Coolmore’s Tom Magnier told Racing.com trainer Aidan O’Brien was unable to split the chances of the two horses.

“Kingfisher’s in great order and Aidan’s very happy with the horse; he’s got a good temperament and I think he’ll handle the big occasion,” Magnier told the site. “You couldn’t ask for two better jockeys to be on the horses in Brett [Prebble] and Colm [O’Donoghue]. The horses have adapted very well to the travel and they’re both in great form and I think they both have great chances. The big thing is it’s a Melbourne Cup and we’ll need a lot of luck, but we’re delighted to be here.”

It’s been 10 years since trainer Sir Michael Stoute brought a horse to the Melbourne Cup but he returns this year with Khalid Abdullah’s G2 Yorkshire Cup and G2 Hardwicke S. winner Snow Sky (GB) (Nayef), who is saddled with top weight. The 4-year-old, who was fifth in the Caulfield Cup, gets the services of Coolmore’s number one jockey Ryan Moore, who was riding for that operation at the Breeders’ Cup in the U.S. Friday and Saturday and in France Sunday before jetting across the globe to Australia. Stoute said he thinks his runner is capable, but needs to improve off the Caulfield effort.

“I think he’s a very suitable horse–he’s got top-weight but he’s entitled to have that,” the conditioner told Racing.com. “It’s a tough thing to do, to carry the top-weight. I thought [the Caulfield Cup run] was OK, the race just didn’t go his way. When he should’ve been going forward, he couldn’t get rolling because he’s not an instant accelerator. I thought it was satisfactory but he’ll have to improve a bit.”

One British trainer who has had plenty of experience at the Cup in recent years is Ed Dunlop, who has sent Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) to three runner-up efforts in four years, including last year. The ever-reliable 9-year-old gelding has not won a race since taking the G1 Hong Kong Vase almost three years ago, but can always be counted on to put on a show on the big stage. He enters this off a second in the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. at Newbury Aug. 15. Red Cadeaux is this year joined by a stable companion in the form of La Grange Partnership’s Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}), winner of the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot over Kingfisher June 18. The 4-year-old suffered a pair of defeats when dropped back to this distance for the G2 Goodwood Cup (third) and to 3300 meters for the G2 Lonsdale Cup (fifth), but made an excellent showing when second in the Caulfield Cup, and jockey Tommy Berry was vocal in his praise of his mount, telling Racing.com after exercising Trip To Paris Sunday, “he felt very sharp to me and I think he’s definitely come on since the Caulfield Cup. Full credit needs to be given to Ed Dunlop. He brings these horses from overseas and they’re pretty one-paced over there for our type of racing, but when he gets them here he puts speed into their legs.”

“He’s a very easy horse to ride,” Berry added. “He’s relaxed and barely picks up the bridle and he sprints when you ask him to and he’s very push-button. It’s a lot easier riding a horse like him than riding one that you’ve got to try and get to settle, or try and run out the distance. This horse ticks all the boxes.”

Michael Bell, the trainer of Big Orange (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}), is making his first trip to the Melbourne Cup, and he is not without a chance to take the prize. Big Orange caused a 25-1 upset when taking the G2 Princess of Wales’s Arqana Racing Club S. at Newmarket July 9, and proved that was no fluke when adding the Goodwood Cup July 30. He was seventh behind Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}) in both horses’ most recent outings in the Lonsdale Cup.

Australia’s champion trainer Gai Waterhouse won her first Melbourne Cup two years ago with Fiorente (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}), and Waterhouse snuck another import by that late great German sire into the field Saturday in the form of Excess Knowledge (GB), who would become Monsun’s third-straight winner of the race after Protectionist (Ger) last year. Excess Knowledge had been second in the Harry White Classic and G2 Herbert Power S. this season prior to Saturday, when he won Flemington’s G3 Lexus S., earning an automatic starting spot in the Cup, and he backs up off three days’ rest but was dealt a blow at the barrier draw when landing in the extreme outside gate 24. Waterhouse also saddles The Offer (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who was the early favorite for last year’s Melbourne Cup but failed to get to the race. The 7-year-old gelding rewarded his conditioner’s perseverance last-out with a win in the G3 Bendigo Cup Oct. 28.

New Zealand-breds have a strong record in some of Australia’s most important middle distance and staying races and two expatriots from that country, Criterion (NZ) (Sebring {Aus}) and Preferment (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), have strong chances here. After winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. at The Championships in April, the four-time Group 1 winner Criterion had a globetrotting spring and summer, finishing third in Hong Kong’s G1 QEII Cup before running with credit in the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and G1 Juddmonte International in Britain. The 5-year-old lifted the G1 Caulfield S. on his return to Australia Oct. 10 and was second in the G1 Cox Plate Oct. 24. Preferment, the winner of last year’s G1 Victoria Derby a year ago Saturday, has won the G2 Hill S. and G1 Turnbull S. this season and was ninth in the Cox Plate for trainer Chris Waller.