Cup-Day summary: Gold Trip hands Maher and Eustace first Cup triumph

Cover image courtesy of Darren Tindale

Gold Trip shines at Flemington

The meteoric rise of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace hit stratospheric heights on Tuesday as the Australian Bloodstock-owned Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}) handed the powerhouse partnership their maiden victory in the time-honoured G1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

Since forming a partnership in 2018, Maher and Eustace have been one of the unstoppable forces in Australian racing and before Tuesday had sent out 19 winners at Group 1 level, including triumphs in the G1 Cox Plate, G1 VRC Derby and G1 Australian Guineas and G1 Oakleigh Plate. However, a win in the greatest of them all was one that had so far eluded the pair.

Despite having a strong team of five runners in the 3200-metre marathon, the pre-race chatter had only been about one horse, European raider Deauville Legend (Ire), and as the race reached its crescendo it appeared the hype surrounding the son of Sea The Stars (Ire) was well-placed as Kerrin McEvoy sat motionless on the 4-year-old heading into the straight.

However, Mark Zahra, on Gold Trip, had his own notions, taking the race by the scruff of the neck at the top of Flemington straight and quickly carved out a clear lead. As many of the leading fancies began to feel the pinch, it was left up to G3 Geelong Cup winner Emissary (GB) (Kingman {GB}) to mount his challenge, but he just failed to find enough, eventually finishing 2l away in second.

Meanwhile, the winner’s stablemate, recent G3 Bendigo Cup winner High Emocean (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), came from last to third, another 1.25l down. Deauville Legend ran a brave race to finish fourth.

'A dream come true'

It is the first time a horse has won the G1 Melbourne Cup of top weight of 57.5kg since the great Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King {Ire}) in 2005, while the French-bred is also the first horse in 99 years to win the 3200-metre contest with just one previous race win to his name.

When it comes to big race victories, there is certainly never any doubt of the importance both Maher and Eustace place on the team they have assembled around them. With bases at Cranbourne, Ballarat, Fingal and Warwick Farm, they always make it clear the role the wider team play in the day-to-day running of the various operations, something Maher was quick to mention only minutes after tasting victory in the time-honoured Group 1.

“Fantastic effort by the whole team. He’s quite dicey this horse,” he said. “To have him present in the Cup like that was fantastic.

“It did open up beautifully, we had a plan going out with Mark, he was very good on him in the Caulfield Cup and we just wanted to wait, wait, wait, we know he’s got that good turn of foot, he was fantastic.

“It’s unbelievable, it’s a dream come true, and I’m just thrilled.”

Meanwhile, an emotional Eustace, added: “I can’t believe it, obviously a bit overcome, it’s a dream that we all want to achieve.

“It’s the pinnacle of our sport, to do it with Ciaron, I'm obviously so grateful to be training with him, it’s a great honour to be doing that with all these good horses and an amazing team of staff we have, it’s a full credit to them.

“It’s a full credit to them to get five here and to this horse who was so unlucky in the Caulfield Cup, I was so gutted when he got beaten, and I thought he was going to get beaten again, it’s just quite incredible.”

The ups and downs

It has been somewhat a rollercoaster ride with Gold Trip since his arrival in Australia over 14 months ago. The son of Outstrip (GB) arrived Down Under with a lofty reputation to uphold having won at Group 2 level and been placed in Group 1 company on three occasions in his native France and as a result was one of the most exciting imports to land these shores for a number of years.

However, after failing the vet checks in the run up to some of the biggest spring events last year, including the G1 Cox Plate, and the succumbing to a foot abscess in the autumn, the 6-year-old’s Australian debut was delayed by nearly a year, finally lining up for his first start in the country in Sydney’s Listed Winter Challenge, where he finished third.

Since that Australian debut, Gold Trip has been making up for lost time and has been one of the busiest horses in the country, running third in the G3 Naturalism S., fifth in the G1 Turnbull S., but it was his narrow second-place finish in the G1 Caulfield Cup that had many noting him down as bona fide G1 Melbourne Cup contender.

The Maher Eustace camp then surprised a few by running the entire in the G1 Cox Plate, but he was far from disgraced, finishing 2.9l off the winner, Anamoe (Street Boss {USA}), in ninth.

Torrid past year

Much like Gold Trip, it has also been a torrid 12 months for Zahra, who missed out on the winning ride on Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) in last year’s race after he was implicated in the Airbnb Covid breach which led to him being suspended from riding for three months.

The winning rider explained how he watched the Chris Waller-trained mare win the race with James McDonald on board in a drunken stupor.

“This time last year I was in Byron Bay and I was getting told off for drinking too much, (because) it could have been my ride. (It is) redemption day today (Tuesday). It is a miracle,” Zahra said.

“Twelve months ago I felt terrible and I was drinking my way out of it and (my wife) was saying, ‘Don’t drink too much’. I said, ‘What do you want me to do? My horse just won the Melbourne Cup.’ For today (Tuesday) to come, and I’ve got good mates in (Gold Trip), it is just unbelievable.

“I got to the front a bit soon but he is a horse that, when you go for it, you have to go. You don’t want to give him time to think about it. I can’t put this triumph into words. It is unbelievable.”

It was a second win in the race for Jamie Lovett and Luke Murrell’s Australian Bloodstock, having been in the ownership of 2014 winner Protectionist (Ger).

It has been an up and down spring for the top-syndicators after their G1 Epsom H. winner Top Ranked (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) had his spring cut short following a trackwork injury, but nothing could subdue Lovett’s elation following Gold Trip’s victory on Tuesday.

“He got a beautiful ride from Mark and he was a weight-for-age horse in a handicap, carrying top-weight. He was pretty dominant,” said Lovett. “That last furlong felt like 10 minutes. Zaz (Zahra) has let him go and I could feel the horse coming. It’s an amazing feeling. There have been so many good clients that have backed us - so good.”

Moroney proud of Emissary

Meanwhile, trainer Mike Moroney expressed his pride at Emissary’s second-place finish and was already making plans for the 2023 edition of the famous race, believing the gelding is improving with every run.

“We knew we had a really nice horse, but we were a little bit worried (about the ground),” Moroney said.

“I said to the owners before the jockey came out, that we were one chance in 22 and better odds than lotto, because the rain had come and we were a bit worried about that.

“Up until then we thought the track had stayed our way so that we were right in it.”

“He’s a pretty promising horse and I thought he ran through the line in the Geelong Cup like he was a good chance of getting two miles, you don’t really know until you try them, he ran it all out probably bar the last 50 metres of it because he got a bit tired late, but we’re very proud of him.

“I think next year he’ll be a stronger horse and we’ll probably take a little bit of a different approach.

“He’ll be going to the paddock now, 12 months is a long time to wait but we’ll be back here hopefully to try and go one closer.”

Meanwhile, Deauville Legend’s trainer, James Ferguson, said the 4-year-old didn’t handle the softer surface.

Krakarib shocks rivals in the Maribyrnong Plate

Haunui Farm shuttler Ribchester (Ire) sired his first stakes winner in the Southern Hemisphere, and sixth overall, when the Simon Zahra-trained Krakarib took out the G3 Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington.

Ridden by Damien Thornton, the 2-year-old colt finished sixth in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial S. and he showed he had come on from that experience, defeating Little Brose (Per Incanto {USA}) by 0.75l, while Awestruck (Hellbent) was the same distance away in third.

Zahra said the colt would now be sent for a spell and connections would weigh up whether they would geld the youngster.

“We thought he could win first-up,” Zahra said. “He got buried by the fence and he just did everything wrong, so I said to Damien, just let him roll and get into a good rhythm.

“He's got really good natural speed, so let's use that.

“He's been well educated, and he's been in work a long time and been through the system three times. I was pretty confident coming into today (Saturday) that he'd run a super race.”

The trainer said the colt had been bought out the paddock for $30,000 and with $126,525 in prizemoney that now looks a very shrewd investment.

“We bought him off the farm for about $30,000 from Spendthrift out of the paddock 12 months ago,” Zahra said. “I said to the ownership that this is our first 2-year-old together and it's a winner. Even better.

“He's small and open to improvement. He's got good natural speed and he's paid his way for everyone.”

Krakarib is out of the winning Dawn Approach (Ire) mare Skagerrak and she is a half-sister to G3 Blue Diamond Prelude winner Hanseatic (Street Boss {USA}), who now stands at Rosemont Stud.

Ribchester began his Southern Hemisphere career at Darley’s Kelvinside base, covering two books of mares in Australia, before being relocated to Haunui Farm in New Zealand when his father, Iffraaj (GB), was retired from shuttling duties. It has been a good few days for the Iffraaj-line with Manzoice, who is by Almanzor (Fr), a grandson of the sire, having landed the G1 VRC Derby last weekend.

Larkspur Run finally puts it all together

The talented, but often frustrating mare Larkspur Run (Shamardal {USA}) made sure that James Cummings and the Godolphin team did not leave Melbourne Cup without a stakes race victory, when she finally put it all together to win the G3 The Hong Kong Jockey Club S.

The daughter of Shamardal (USA) was winning her first race in stakes company, having made the frame on a host of occasions, including in her most recent start when she finished third in the Listed Black Pearl S. and she was lucky to make the field coming in second emergency.

However, she made it count, finishing 0.75l ahead of Literary Magnate (Written Tycoon). Mac ‘N’ Cheese (Sebring) was another 0.1l further back in third.

“I think she (Kah) put her in the right spot and enabled the horse to show her toughness,” Cummings said.

“That’s great for the farm. That leads to Larkspur Run being a new stakes winner for Darley.

“She’s a tough mare. Very fit. I’d given her enough runs, including a run two ago on a very Heavy track that I didn’t sway from at Randwick, and her toughness prevailed in a really strong finish over 1400 metres.

“It is only the fourth time I’ve brought her to this distance, but she looked like 1400 metres would suit her on her last run in the Black Pearl at Geelong, and the ground was firm then.”

The daughter of Shamardal (USA) is out of dual-winning Exceed And Excel mare Aspen and she is a daughter of dual Group 2 winner Portillo (Red Ransom {USA}), making her a half-sister to G2 Surround S. winner Ghisoni (Lonhro).

In winning the race, Larkspur Run becomes the 164th stakes winner for late Darley sire Shamardal and also the seventh stakes winner and 75th in total for Exceed And Excel as a broodmare sire.

Exceed And Excel also chalked up a winner as a sire when his son Renosu landed the The Schweppervescence Plate earlier in the afternoon, while he was also the grandsire of G1 Melbourne Cup winner, Gold Trip.

Alexander aims High with Approach

Trainer Archie Alexander is confident High Approach (Highland Reel {Ire}) can land bigger and better prizes in the autumn after he showed bravery in spades to win the Listed TAB Trophy at Flemington.

The son of Swettenham Stud shuttler Highland Reel (Ire) came into the Listed event having broken his on his most recent start at Ballarat and he continued on his steep upward curve, staying on strongly to beat Lindermann (Lonhro) by 0.2l, while Dream Hour (Dawn Approach {Ire}) was another 1.25l further back in third.

In winning the race, the gelding provided Highland Reel with his first stakes winner in Australia, while he is the sire of two black type winners in the Northern Hemisphere.

Bred by Dr Judith Mulholland, High Approach was purchased by Alexander and his Racing Manager Jeremy Rogers for $50,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in 2021 and the trainer was quick to give Rogers all the plaudits for sourcing the horse at the sale.

“He’s a horse that has come from a maiden win to town, but we wouldn’t have been here if we didn’t like the horse and we’ve always liked him and it’s a great result for everyone,” said Alexander.

“I can’t take any credit for it (his purchase), my racing manager Jeremy Rogers, on the last day of the sale said ‘come on you better have a look at this horse’ … $50,000 later and here we are.

“We’ve always thought he was a Derby horse and thought maybe right now, but it all came a bit soon. He’ll have a break now and come back in the autumn and maybe aim up at a Derby, who knows.”

The gelding is out of the unraced Encosta De Lago Encapsulate and she has produced a further 7 winners.

Highland Reel calls Coolmore home during his time in Europe and he is currently covering his fifth book of mares at Swettenham Stud at a fee of $16,500 (inc GST).