Germany to Newcastle for Melbourne Cup 2014 champ

Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist came from Germany and will go to Newcastle, with a bit of English and Irish help along the way.

The horse that blitzed to a four-length lead to win Tuesday’s Cup boasts a regular United Nations of connections.

German trainer, German horse of German-French parents, English jockey and, among others, Irish and Australian owners.

Protectionist’s win made news around the world – from German TV down to a local radio station in County Wexford, Ireland.

German TV journalists grabbed Protectionist trainer Andreas Wohler for an interview after the main media conference immediately after the big race.

Mr Wohler said he had a feeling the victory was big news back home.

“I haven’t had too much feedback from home, but as far as I’ve heard it’s quite huge,” he said on Wednesday morning.

The Irish broadcasters phoned Australia for a chat with construction firm owner Robbie Power, one of the owners of Protectionist along with his brother Walter.

Walter and Robbie live in Sydney, where they run a civil construction company.

But the Powers hail from County Wexford, as does another Protectionist part-owner, Fergus Doyle, owner of the Cat and Fiddle Hotel in Sydney’s Balmain.

Walter Power was continuing the party in Melbourne on Wednesday, celebrating the win of a horse that first caught his eye when he went to Germany in June to look at another potential purchase.

Mr Power already owned horses through Australian Bloodstock, the syndication firm that bought Protectionist from its German industrialist owner, Dr Christoph Berger.

He was keen to take a stake in Protectionist.

“The boys had always been interested in Protectionist, but Dr Berger didn’t want to sell,” Mr Power said.

“But they kept persisting. They got there.”

From its international origins Protectionist will now call Newcastle in the NSW Hunter Valley home.

The stallion will train under Kris Lees, an old Newcastle connection of Australian Bloodstock director Jamie Lovett.

Mr Lovett played junior football with Mr Lees and had some of his first racehorses trained by Kris’s father.

“We’re born and bred Newcastle,” Mr Lovett said.

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