THE MELBOURNE CUP SUNSHINE COAST COLUMN SPECIAL: SO MANY SUB PLOTS BUT THERE CAN ONLY ONE WINNER

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

It’s D-Day for the connections of the twenty-four runners eyeing the $3.6 million first prize in the 2016 Melbourne Cup.

The story of the push for glory has many sub-plots, far too many to cover in a single article, but here are some sample points of interest on a race day that never ceases to take the country by storm.

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Last year Michelle Payne carried a famous racing family name to new heights when she guided the $101 chance Prince Of Penzance to victory in an historic edition of the Melbourne Cup.

That was a life changing moment as the in demand Payne quickly forged a separate ‘celebrity’ career on the back of being the first female rider to win the Melbourne Cup and her ‘get stuffed’ attitude that illuminated the post-race interview, endeared her to the public and rattled the establishment cage.

Once again this year there is only one female rider in the race and, like Michelle Payne, Katelyn Mallyon brings a serious racing pedigree to the challenge being the great grand-daughter of Mick Mallyon who rode no less than three Caulfield Cup winners over a seven year period.

Katelyn rides Assign in the Cup, a $50 chance. She was rewarded with the Cup ride after saluting on Assign in the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes last time over 2500m, so the duo come into the race with winning form, albeit at odds that reflect the difficulty of the task at hand.

The question remains, can a female rider win the Cup for a second successive year?

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Assign is one of three horses in the race (with Gallante and Almandin) trained by Robert Hickmott for the Williams family, who also have Bondi Beach in the line-up. The latter is trained by Aidan O’Brien.

Lloyd Williams has already won four Melbourne Cups as an owner but you can rest assured that the seventy six year old’s rich appetite for a race he targets every year has not been diminished with the passing years.

The Williams team’s experience in knowing what it takes to prepare a winner for the Cup, combined with a strict focus on that objective can be worth a couple of lengths on the day.

Nobody would be surprised if they racked up win number five!

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Lloyd Williams is a wealthy man but if you think success in the Melbourne Cup can be bought ... stop, take a breath and consider this.

Godolphin, the global thoroughbred breeding and horse racing stable founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has been represented in the Cup by fourteen runners since 1998 and the stable has yet to strike gold in the race.

This year Godolphin has flooded the entries, qualifying no less than five runners in their quest for that elusive victory, including the well fancied Hartnell.

Weight of numbers and the fact that they are certainly due for success ultimately means little in racing, but you have to ask ... will this be the year when the royal blue colours finally surge to the fore?

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Will the mighty mare Winx have an influence on the outcome of the Melbourne Cup?

Of course Winx is not a runner in the Cup, but the point is raised on the basis of what happened in the Cox Plate which was touted as a two horse contest between Winx and the strong Melbourne Cup fancy Hartnell.

It is now a matter of record that two-way clash never materialised as Winx laid down the law to Hartnell on the Moonee Valley turn and completely destroyed her rival in the straight, romping in to win by that unbelievable eight length margin.

So my question is ... did Winx break Hartnell’s heart in the process?

If she did, Hartnell might not have the enthusiasm required to carry the day today.

We won’t know until we watch the horse in the midst of the heat of battle, but it is a possibility.

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Remember Glen Boss?

Of course you do. He was the jockey in Makybe Diva’s Melbourne Cup three-peat.

The fact that the last of that famous hat trick of wins came in 2005 means a lot of water of water has passed under the bridge since then and with it has come a changing tide in the fortunes of Boss who recently took his talents to Singapore after finding his support base waning on the local scene as he increasingly struggled to get rides.

They say the best way to silence critics is to succeed.

Well, if Boss does produce the goods on Geelong Cup runner-up Grey Lion, expect his usual dance of delight and perhaps a message to the doubters, a la Michelle Payne.

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The balance between ‘them and us’ in terms of trainers in the race is almost an even contest with eleven of the twenty four runners being saddled by visiting trainers.

Significantly though, eighteen of the twenty four runners were foreign bred, coming from quite a spread of countries including Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, France and the United States.

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The best riders in the world are here for the Cup which will only make the occasion more surreal for jockey Ben Thompson who is the only apprentice rider in the race.

Thompson will follow all of the others out onto the track on horse number 24 Rose Of Virginia.

Still only nineteen years of age, win lose or draw, Thompson will be creating a lifelong memory.

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Connections of the Melbourne Cup runners are all in it for the chase for glory, the chance to get their hands on one of the most coveted trophies in sport and the thrill of the occasion.

Most will say it is not a money game but, for the record, here is a look at how the $6 million prize-money is allocated.

First prize: $3.6 million. Second prize: $900 000. Third prize: $450 000. Fourth prize: $250 000. Fifth prize: $175 000 and $125 000 from sixth place down to tenth place.

The glory ... the money, whichever way you look at it, today’s race is a big deal!