Gai Waterhouse wins Melbourne Cup and then sets course for international glory

FIORENTE has achieved one burning ambition for Gai Waterhouse - now racing's first lady is preparing to take on the world with the stayer.

FIORENTE has achieved one burning ambition for Gai Waterhouse by winning the Melbourne Cup - now racing's first lady is preparing to take on the world with her champion stayer.

"I've always wanted to win at Royal Ascot and Fiorente is just the type of horse I could take back England next year,'' Waterhouse said.

"It will be hard for Fiorente to go for another Melbourne Cup next year because he will get so much weight.

"Obviously, races like the Australian Cup and The BMW next autumn are races we could target and then maybe Royal Ascot.

"We will let this sink in first and discuss plans with our owners - it's a pleasant problem to have.

"Fiorente is a world class horse, he's got an impeccable pedigree and he's very versatile from 1400m to 3200m. You dream about a horse like this."''

In a Melbourne Cup for the ages, Fiorente, the former English stayer, kept the most prized trophy in Australian sport on these shores with a memorable win before a huge crowd of 104,169 at Flemington yesterday.

Fiorente ($7 favourite) came from midfield at the 600m with a powerful to score by three-quarters of a lengths, relegating foreign raider Red Cadeaux ($61) to the runner-up position for the second time in three years. Mount Athos ($13) was a further one-and-a-half lengths away third. In other Cup highlights:

HALL of Fame jockey Damien Oliver rode his third Melbourne Cup winner after Doriemus (1995) and Media Puzzle (2002).

FIORENTE is the first favourite to win since Makybe Diva ($4.40) completed her three-peat in 2005.

News_Image_File: An overseas trip could be on the cards for Fiorente. Picture: Getty Images

HE became only the fourth horse in Cup history to improve on a second placing and win the following year after The Grafter (1898), Gold And Black (1976) and Empire Rose (1988).

THE northern hemisphere-trained gallopers filled the next four placings with Red Cadeaux (second), Mouth Athos (third), Simenon (fourth) and Dandino (fifth),.

CAULFIELD Cup winner Fawkner was the first Team Williams's six stayers home in sixth position.

EARLY leader Ruscello was the last horse to cross the finish line.

TRAGICALLY, French mare Verema, the first horse the Aga Khan has ever sent to race down under, broke down mid-race and had to be destroyed.

Fiorente collected $3.6 million for his Melbourne Cup triumph, certainly justifying the $1.1 million Waterhouse paid to secure the stayer last year.

"I remember the first time I saw Fiorente at Newmarket in England last year and he just filled my eye - he was drop-dead gorgeous,'' Waterhouse said.

"It took us four months to get him and I know quite a few Australian trainers were onto the horse.

"Then when he came here and as a 'parachute horse' into the Melbourne Cup and finished second, I knew we had a very good horse.

"I thought then we could with the (2013) Melbourne Cup with this horse.''

News_Rich_Media: Australia's first lady of racing, Gai Waterhouse, has won her maiden Melbourne Cup with Fiorente, but not before a summons to the Stewards sent a scare through the camp.

Waterhouse said she was a little surprised to see Fiorente so far back early as "that had not been our plan''.

"But I could see him kicking up before the turn,'' Waterhouse said. "Then when Damien got him to the outside, he started to make ground quickly.

"I knew 200m he was going to win the Cup before he was finishing better than anything else in the race.''

Oliver was riding Fiorente for the first time yesterday and made special mention of the stayer's previous jockeys, Nash Rawiller and Blake Shinn.

"He is a special horse and I feel very fortunate to get upon him for the first time in a Melbourne Cup,'' Oliver said

"I missed the ride in the Cox Plate but I was working the horse a lot in work and he is really just a delight to ride, he is so quiet and relaxed and he is everything you want in a Melbourne Cup horse.

Oliver said he wanted to be closer early but the pace was more fierce than he expected.

"I wanted to be closer but I was just going have to be forcing him to be there so I let the pace go and let him be happy,'' he said.

"He was a fair way back but before I knew it I was right on top of them on the turn because it all changed complexion pretty quickly."

"He moved into the race beautifully on the turn and it was just a matter of holding them off and he was too strong.

"I knew I had Red Cadeaux still in front of me and I knew he was going to take me a fair way but when you're in front that last 200m seems to take forever.

"To win a third Melbourne Cup is extraordinary, you just can't imagine the emotion that goes through your body, it's a really special feeling and I feel very fortunate.''