THE FRENCH CONNECTION TAKES OUT MELBOURNE CUP

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A dashing ride by one of the world’s leading jockeys on a horse superbly turned out by a master trainer – that was the winning recipe for success in the one-hundred and fiftieth running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.

The six-year-old gelding Americain has a multi-international connection. That his owners are Australian, courtesy of a shrewd and now bargain price purchase earlier this year by Gerry Ryan and Kevin Bamford, means that the bulk of the huge first place prize-money payout stays in Australia.

Ryan and Bamford deserve as much. They took the risk. They have their reward … but it is the French duo of trainer Alain De Royer Dupre and jockey Gerald Mosse who deserve praise of the highest order.

While the emphasis on producing stayers in Europe is far greater than on the local scene, the array of difficulties involved in travelling a racehorse from the northern hemisphere to compete in a grueling staying test thousands of kilometers from home have been well documented in past years.

Many big names have chanced their arm. Most have come up short. Several have fallen by the wayside. Some try regularly to claim the Cup, but still remain empty-handed.

Not so trainer Alain De Royer Dupre.

Given the task by Ryan and Bamford to take over a horse previously trained by Andre Faber and Todd Pletcher and to rejuvenate the runner enough to turn him into a Melbourne Cup prospect was no easy mission, but there is good reason why De Royer Dupre has Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe and Breeders’ Cup wins behind his name and his expertise was instrumental in turning Americain out, primed to the minute.

Make no mistake, this was a huge training feat.

While the owners sets the dream in motion by buying the horse and the trainer carries that hope along several more steps by using all of his skill to prepare the horse for battle, all the owners and trainer can do once the field is dispatched from the barriers … is watch.

They have quite literally handed the reins over to the rider.

In Gerald Mosse, Ryan, Bamford and De Royer Dupre could not have left their fate in better hands.

Mosse had Americain worse than midfield for the first half of the race. He was in midfield approaching the home turn and then when they straightened and the runners spread out across the track lining up for the cavalry charge, suddenly, Mosse and Americain were right on the back of the hot favourite So You Think, the runner who would be most likely to take them into the race.

How Mosse got there was pure genius. It was a mixture of a delicate touch (in terms of angling for a run) and a vigourous intention (to make the move stick). Of course the horse had to be good enough, but the riding had to be precise.

If you can, rewind the video and watch again how Mosse did it. It is well worth a second glance.

The chase home was arduous, as all Melbourne Cup finishes are, but, in the end, Americain wore down So You Think and had enough in hand to see off the spirited challenge of Myluckyday who underlined his staying prowess with a strong second place showing as he too moved ahead of So You Think over the concluding stages.

With typical French flair, Mosse didn’t just salute from the saddle before he crossed the line. He blew kisses to the crowd as Americain cemented a stirring success

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