The two nations are separated by over 15,000 kilometres, but the presence of Victoria Racing Club (VRC) officials in Chantilly yesterday (Saturday) demonstrates the growing importance of France to Australia’s most cherished sporting event.
France is indelibly linked to the recent history of the Emirates Melbourne Cup, the world’s richest turf race, having won two of the previous three editions.
VRC Chairman Michael Burn and Vice Chairman Amanda Elliott hosted an intimate dinner at the Aga Khan’s Auberge du Jeu de Paume hotel to celebrate France’s success in the race that stops a nation, as it is affectionately known in Australia.
Guests included His Highness The Aga Khan IV; Her Highness Princess Zahra Aga Khan; Dunaden owner His Highness Sheikh Fahad Al Thani; Australian Ambassador to France Ric Wells; and Cup-winning trainers and jockeys Alain de Royer Dupre, Mikel Delzangles and Christophe Lemaire.
As 2013 marks 20 years since the first successful international raider, Vintage Crop, claimed Australia’s richest prize in sport, the VRC is keen to ensure that international participation – and success – continues.
“We believe the Emirates Melbourne Cup to be one of the world’s great horse races. Accordingly we want the best stayers in the world to compete, and many of those happen to be French,” Burn said.
Also in attendance was leading French trainer Nicolas Clement, who is one of many on the VRC’s target list for this year’s Emirates Melbourne Cup.
Burn said that two Clement-trained stayers are Emirates Melbourne Cup candidates: Yellow And Green and Now We Can.
Yellow And Green is owned by Qatar’s Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, the brother of the Emirates Melbourne Cup-winning Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, while Now We Can is raced by Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.
Now We Can’s last-start victory in the Group 2 Grand Prix De Chantilly (2400m) satisfies the first balloting clause for this year’s Emirates Melbourne Cup.
The internationalisation of the Melbourne Cup began in 1993, with the foreign owned, trained and ridden Vintage Crop winning the first of two Cups for Ireland’s Dermot Weld. Until 2010, of the dozens of international raiders since Vintage Crop, only Weld’s Media Puzzle (2002) and Japan’s Delta Blues (2006) had been successful. However, Americain’s victory in the 150th Melbourne Cup in 2010 appears to have marked another turning point: the 2011 edition featured a record 11 international runners, with Dunaden securing France’s second win in as many years.
The international success has sparked strong interest in international stayers by Australian trainers and owners. In 2012, 13 of the first 14 horses past the winning post in the Emirates Melbourne Cup were bred or trained in the northern hemisphere.
Such is the significance of the 152-year-old race to Australians, Emirates Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Melbourne, and the city’s main thoroughfare is shut down for a parade of jockeys, trainers and owners the day prior.
The four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival commences with AAMI Victoria Derby Day (2 November), followed by Emirates Melbourne Cup Day (5 November), Crown Oaks Day (7 November) and Emirates Stakes Day (9 November), with over 350,000 racegoers expected to attend.
