Damien Oliver, Kerrin McEvoy and Glen Boss out to equal Melbourne Cup riding record
A trio of star jockeys are each attempting to add another chapter to their Melbourne Cup history.
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Damien Oliver, Glen Boss and Kerrin McEvoy have an opportunity to equal one of the most celebrated riding records in Australian racing at Flemington on Tuesday.
The three champion jockeys have each ridden three Melbourne Cup winners and if one of them is successful in Tuesday’s big race, he will equal the longstanding race riding record for four wins jointly by Bobbie Lewis and Harry White.
The Daily Telegraph’s racing editor Ray Thomas spoke with Oliver, Boss and McEvoy about the chance to ride into Melbourne Cup history.
DAMIEN OLIVER
Melbourne Cup wins: Doriemus (1995), Media Puzzle (2002), Fiorente (2013)
Damien Oliver gave another demonstration of his enduring genius with a big-race double at Flemington on Derby Day.
The champion jockey’s wins on Superstorm (Cantala Stakes) and Colette (Empire Rose Stakes) took his record in Group 1 races to 121, the most by any Australian rider.
At 49, Oliver is riding as well as ever as he chases a record-equalling fourth win in the $7.75 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Delphi.
Oliver has won Melbourne Cups previously on Doriemus (1995), Media Puzzle (2002) and Fiorente (2013) and he is on the verge of something quite extraordinary – and it is not just about equalling the race riding records of Bobbie Lewis and Harry White.
“It would be great to win the Melbourne Cup again, I have won it the last three decades,” Oliver said.
“To win the race over four decades would be something else.”
No jockey has managed to win a Melbourne Cup in each of four decades. Lewis’s wins on The Victory in 1902 and his fourth success in the race on Trivalve in 1927 were 25 years apart – the longest span between Cup wins.
OIiver will also break that record if Dephi can win as it has been 26 years since he completed the coveted Cups double on Doriemus in 1995.
The Hall of Fame jockey’s Melbourne Cup win on Media Puzzle in 2002 remains one or the most emotional and unforgettable moments in Australian sport as just eight days earlier, Oliver’s brother, Jason, lost his life in a barrier trial incident in Perth.
Oliver then returned from a debilitating back injury and a lengthy suspension to win the 2013 Melbourne Cup on Fiorente for Gai Waterhouse.
He’s also had a couple of near misses along way most notably with close second placings on Pop Rock (2006) and Purple Moon (2007).
Oliver’s Melbourne Cup record is even more remarkable because he rarely rides lighter than the 53.5kg he has got down to ride Delphi.
“Unless I have something exceptional, I don’t really start looking around for a Melbourne Cup ride until the weights come out,” Oliver said.
“Because I don’t ride light, I’m a bit restricted as to what I can ride in the Cup.”
Oliver has landed on Delphi for the Freedman father-and-son training team with the former Irish stayer rated a $21 chance after a disappointing Caulfield Cup effort behind the rampant Incentivise.
“I’m not certain what happened in the Caulfield Cup,” Oliver said. “We were a little puzzled by his run, it was inconclusive.
“Off his Herbert Power win, I was pleased with him but off the Caulfield Cup I’m not really sure.
“The Chosen One came out of the same races and disappointed as well in the Caulfield Cup where they finished together. Obviously, I’m hoping Delphi will improve at Flemington.”
Oliver conceded that hot favourite Incentivise is the horse to beat in the Melbourne Cup.
“You can’t be anything else but taken by what Incentivise has achieved this spring,” Oliver said.
“He has done everything asked of him and will be hard to beat.”
KERRIN MCEVOY
Melbourne Cup wins: Brew (2000), Almandin (2016), Cross Counter (2018)
Champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy is fully aware of the enormity of his achievement if he can win a fourth Melbourne Cup on Grand Promenade.
“It would be remarkable I could get another one,” McEvoy said.
“This race has been going a long time and only two jockeys have won four Melbourne Cups. It would be a feather in my cap if I can win it again.
“I will be giving it my best shot to join the elite group of jockeys to have done it.
“The dream is always there to try and grab another one.”
McEvoy is relying on $16 chance Grand Promenade to give him a fourth Melbourne Cup and equal the race riding record held jointly by Bobbie Lewis and Harry White.
If he can secure a fourth Melbourne Cup on Grand Promenade then surely it will clinch the rider deserved Hall of Fame honours alongside all-time greats like Damien Oliver and Glen Boss.
McEvoy has never ridden Grand Promenade but has watched with interest as the gelding has coped with a lengthy race campaign that began back in March when he ran second first-up at Mornington.
Grand Promenade has raced once each month since then – with the exception of May when he had two starts – and has won four times, finished second in another four races, and fifth in the Naturalism Stakes.
But he seems to have got better the longer his preparation has gone and goes into the Melbourne Cup off a dominant win in The Bart Cummings a month ago.
“I like what I see with Grand Promenade,” McEvoy said.
“His Flemington record is very good, he’s a nice, genuine horse that has had a lot of distance racing and should run the trip right out. It’s pleasing he has those miles under the belt, so to speak.”
Grand Promenade is trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, a stable McEvoy has had plenty of success riding for over the year.
“I’ve ridden some good horses for the stable like Srikandi and its nice to be teaming up them again,” McEvoy said.
“They have been great with their stayers over many seasons. Ciaron was a jumps jockey and he seems to have a real affinity with stayers.”
McEvoy’s three Melbourne Cup wins were on lightweights, Brew (49kg, 2000), Almandin (52kg, 2016) and Cross Counter (51kg, 2018), and Grand Promenade gets in with only 52kg.
“This year is a completely different year with not many internationals in the field,” McEvoy said.
“Incentivise is the shortest favourite I’ve seen since I don’t know when but I think I’m on a horse that can run really well.
“Grand Promenade fits that mould of an up-and-coming stayer with a lightweight and a very good Flemington record so he could be the horse with the right credentials going into the race.”
GLEN BOSS
Melbourne Cup wins: Makybe Diva (2003-04-05)
Glen Boss relied on the recommendation of Frankie Dettori before locking in Sir Lucan as his ride in the Melbourne Cup.
The Hall of Fame jockey looked like being without a Cup ride when Young Werther was withdrawn with injury less than two weeks ago but he was interested in finding out more about lightweight Sir Lucan.
“I rang Frankie who I have known for a long time and he gave me a good insight into Sir Lucan,” Boss
“Although he was way down in the order of entry, a lot of stayers like Young Werther were dropping out of the Cup and all of a sudden Sir Lucan looking likely to sneaky into the field.
“So, I had a good look at his form and asked Frankie his opinion of the horse.
“Frankie told me that the Europeans three-year-olds this year are a very good crop and Sir Lucan has been running well against some top horses.
“Sir Lucan has been ridden way out of his ground in some of his races and being asked to make up too much ground but Frankie said the horse has a lethal turn of foot.”
Dettori, the world class jockey who has ridden in a number of Melbourne Cups, told Boss that Sir Lucan would be an ideal type for Australian racing.
“Frankie thinks the shorter straights and Australian style of racing will suits him,” Dettori said.
“Over in England, they have 600m straights and keep building so you have to be on the pace and keep grinding away.
“But Frankie said Sir Lucan has a very good turn of speed which is what you need here and that gave me a lot of confidence.”
Boss, who famous rode Makybe Diva to her Melbourne Cup three-peat in 2003-04-05, is going back to the future by linking with trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott on Sir Lucan.
He has only ridden two Group 1 winners for Tulloch Lodge this century and both were also late pick-up rides – replacing the suspended Blake Shinn to win the 2008 Golden Slipper on Sebring and also as a replacement for Chris Munce on Dance Hero in the 2004 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes.
But Boss goes way back with Waterhouse, having won the 1995 The Metropolitan on Electronic for the trainer.
“When Sir Lucan got into the race, I told Gai I was happy to ride him at 51kg,” Boss said.
“This horse is a full brother to Sir Dragonet who I won the Cox Plate and Tancred Stakes on last season.
“His breeding is impeccable; I was blown away by how many champions are in his pedigree.”
Boss was supposed to be riding Incentivise this spring but pandemic protocols meant he couldn’t get to Victoria early enough to partner the stayer.
Brett Prebble has been fortunate enough to ride Incentivise to wins in the Makybe Diva Stakes, Turnbull Stakes and Caulfield Cup and deservedly retains the ride on the hot favourite for the big race.
Boss concedes Incentivise is the horse to beat but his focus now is with giving Sir Lucan the right run as the jockey aims for a record-equalling fourth Melbourne Cup.
Originally published as Damien Oliver, Kerrin McEvoy and Glen Boss out to equal Melbourne Cup riding record
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