The week that was: observations from the Melbourne Cup Carnival

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival has come and gone, and like always, there was no shortage of outstanding moments.

More than 260,000 people attended the carnival, which is up on last year’s figure of 244,208, with just shy of 85,000 (84,492) heading to Melbourne Cup Day, making it the biggest attendance for the meeting since 2017.

The carnival featured 37 races in total, of which 26 were stakes races. There were eight Group 1 races, three Group 2s, nine Group 3s and six Listed events.

Star sires

Widden Stud’s kingpin Zoustar enjoyed another brilliant carnival, this time siring three stakes winners, including the G1 Coolmore Stud S. hero Ozzmosis. Zoustar also had Mumbai Muse take out the G3 Red Roses S., while Schwarz was most impressive when beating his rivals in Saturday’s Listed The Amanda Elliott.

Gallery: Zoustar enjoyed a brilliant Melbourne Cup Carnival, siring three stakes winners, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Coolmore’s Pride Of Dubai also sired three stakes winners. Thanks to a daring Declan Bates ride, 6-year-old mare Pride Of Jenni proved too hard to catch in the G1 Empire Rose S. on Saturday, before backing-up a week later and turning in a career-best performance when upstaging Fangirl (Sebring), Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) and Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) in the G1 Champions Mile. Deny Knowledge (Ire) also flew the flag for Pride Of Dubai, she was a brilliant winner of the G2 Matriarch S. under Jamie Kah on Champions Day.

And Waikato Stud’s Champion Sire Savabeel also had a treble of stakes wins, after Atishu (NZ) was first home in the G1 Champions S., comeback stayer Forgot You (NZ) won the Listed Furphy Sprint, before Kiwi mare Skew Wiff (NZ) claimed the G3 Hong Kong Jockey Club S.

Australia’s pre-eminent sire I Am Invincible notched two stakes wins, with gun mare Imperatriz scoring at the highest level for the third time on the bounce and eighth overall in the G1 Champions Sprint. ‘Vinnie’ was also represented by Queen Of The Ball, who took out the G3 Furphy Sprint on Derby Day.

And Coolmore’s American Pharoah (USA) registered his first elite-level winner in Australia when his gelded son Riff Rocket saluted by a narrow margin in the G1 Victoria Derby.

Table: Leading sires over the Melbourne Cup Carnival

Freshman sires make their mark

It was a big week for first-season sires Alabama Express and Exceedance.

Alabama Express, who stands at Yulong Stud, chalked up his first stakes success when the Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained Karavas improved her record to two wins from as many starts in the G3 Ottawa S. on Oaks Day.

Gallery: First-season sires who got on the board over the Melbourne Cup Carnival

And on Cup Day, Exceedance, who is a resident at Vinery Stud, got off the mark when the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained colt Dublin Down touched off his stablemate Blue Stratum (Blue Point {Ire}) in the G3 Maribyrnong Plate.

Ultimate result for several broodmares

The four-day carnival comprised eight Group 1s, of which there were seven individual winners (Pride Of Jenni scored twice). Posy (NZ) (No Excuse Needed {GB}) - the dam of Atishu, Khor Sheed (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) the dam of Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), and Berimbau (Shamardal {USA}) - the dam of Imperatriz - were already Group 1-winning producers prior to Derby Day.

That means four broodmares - Missile Coda (Smart Missile), Sancerre (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), No More Tears (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and Chanderi (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) became Group 1-winning dams during the carnival.

Missile Coda is the dam of Derby hero Riff Rocket, Sancerre has thrown Pride Of Jenni, No More Tears has produced crack colt Ozzmosis, while Chanderi is the dam of the Oaks heroine Zardozi (Kingman {GB}).

Champion broodmare sires improve incredible record

A quartet of elite broodmare sires - O’Reilly (NZ), Fastnet Rock, Dubawi (Ire), and High Chaparral (Ire) - were to the fore at Flemington.

O’Reilly’s granddaughter Pride Of Jenni became the first horse since Rogan Josh (Old Spice) in 1999 to win two Group 1s across the four days. The great Kiwi stallion also had Dublin Down and he is a son of Dublin Lass, as well as Forgot You (NZ), who is a gelding from Simply You (NZ).

Gallery: Both O'Reilly (NZ) and Fastnet Rock were the broodmare sires of four stakes winners over the Melbourne Cup Carnival

Fastnet Rock enjoyed four victories as a broodmare sires, with Amazonian Lass (More Than Ready {USA}), Cause For Concern (Worthy Cause), Queen Of The Ball and Mumbai Muse all winning. The G2 Wakeful S. heroine Amazonian Lass is from the Warwick Farm maiden victress Dynastic Lady, the G2 The Damien Oliver winner Cause For Concern is out of the four-time winner Rock Paper Sissors (NZ), Queen Of The Ball is a daughter of the brilliant broodmare Miss Debutante, herself a Listed scorer, while Mumbai Muse is from the Kembla Grange maiden winner Mumbai Rock.

Dubawi’s success came via Without A Fight, Zardozi and the G3 Rising Fast S. winner Spacewalk (Exosphere), who is a son of the five-time winner Benenden.

Roll On High (Shamus Award) and Muramasa (Deep Impact {Jpn}) added to High Chaparral’s sensational broodmare sire record. Roll On High, who was a brilliant winner of the Listed Desirable S., is out of the unraced All Highs On Me (NZ) and Muramasa is a son of the 2016 G2 Silver Shadow S. heroine Omei Sword.

Table: Leading damsires over the Melbourne Cup Carnival

Bred to win

Of the seven Group 1 winners, Riff Rocket was bred by Debbie Kepitis’ Woppitt Bloodstock, Trelawney Stud/Taylor Family Trust bred Pride Of Jenni, Ozzmosis was bred by China Horse Racing Club, Without A Fight is a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, Zardozi is a homebred for Godolphin Australia, Raffles Dancers bred Imperatriz and Atishu was bred by Waikato Stud.

Godolphin Australia bred two winners - Zardozi and Spacewalk, so too did Go Bloodstock - Amazonian Lass and Queen Of The Ball, and Waikato Stud/Trelawney Family Trust - Pride Of Jenni twice.

Waikato Stud also had a couple of victories - Atishu and Skew Wiff, while Garry Chittick bred Forgot You.

Table: Leading breeders over the Melbourne Cup Carnival

J-Mac again, Kah back with a bang

Superstar jockey James McDonald won his third-straight Ron Hutchinson Award, after notching four wins, three of them in Group 1 company (he won the Derby on Riff Rocket, the Oaks aboard Zardozi and the Champions S. with Atihsu).

Interestingly, Kah, whose form was being questioned by some in the media pre-carnival, silenced those knockers, piloting a carnival-best six winners.

Kah may have registered more wins than McDonald, but the New Zealander won the medal, which is awarded using a points system for first, second and third. McDonald tallied 30 points, Kah had 23.

Declan Bates leaves the carnival being a two-time Group-winning jockey, while Mark Zahra, Opie Bosson and Rachel King were the other riders to chalk up a top-tier triumph.

Damien Oliver, who was participating in his final Melbourne Cup Carnival, had three wins, as did Blake Shinn and Tim Clark.

Waller takes JB Cummings Award

Another New Zealander, Chris Waller, won the JB Cummings Leading Trainer Award. Like the Ron Hutchinson Medal, points are accrued for first, second and third. Waller had two wins, both Group 1s (Riff Rocket and Atishu).

Ciaron Maher and David Eustace tallied three wins, including two Group 1s with Pride Of Jenni, while Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young also had a treble.

Master list of results from the Melbourne Cup Carnival