Gai Waterhouse will bid to win second Melbourne Cup with Excess Knowledge and The Offer
GAI Waterhouse wanted to buy Trip To Paris – now she is trying to beat the English stayer as she bids for her second Melbourne Cup triumph.
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GAI Waterhouse wanted to buy Trip To Paris – now she is trying to beat the English stayer.
The Offer and Excess Knowledge give Waterhouse a chance to win a second $6.2 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington but she is wary of the international raider that caught her eye six months ago.
“I was in England and saw Trip To Paris at Ed Dunlop’s stables,’’ Waterhouse revealed.
“He told me they might look to sell Trip To Paris and I told him if you are going to I will buy him.
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“But then I completely forgot about it. You wouldn’t believe it, now we have to beat Trip To Paris.’’
Waterhouse rates Trip To Paris and stablemate Red Cadeaux as her two main rivals as she bids for Melbourne Cup history.
“I don’t think you can go past the horses Ed Dunlop trains,’’ Waterhouse replied when asked the rivals she fears most in the big race.
“Ed is the quiet achiever. He comes here every year, his horses start at fantastic odds and they fight out the finish every year.
“All I know is he is a damn good trainer, an international trainer who can travel his horses very well. He has is done it year after year.
“Sooner or later he is going to beat us – I hope it is not (today).’’
Waterhouse won a famous Melbourne Cup two years ago with $7 favourite Fiorente and has to rely on two $35 longshots to experience that sensation again.
“To win the Melbourne Cup, it was a dream come true,’’ Waterhouse said.
“We have our Cup in pride of place at home. It was life-changing us and we have been racing born and bred all our lives.
“I went to a luncheon in Melbourne just the other day and I took my Cup. I know what it means to people to see it, touch it, because I know what it means to me.’’
So, can Waterhouse celebrate another Melbourne Cup triumph?
“Excess Knowledge should be about a $10 chance and The Offer no longer than $25 – they are both over the odds.’’
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Waterhouse maintains Excess Knowledge, to be ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, is the “weight” horse of the Melbourne Cup after the stayer qualified with his narrow win in the Lexus Stakes on Derby Day.
“Excess Knowledge was very gallant with his win and drops to 51kg for the Melbourne Cup,’’ Waterhouse said.
“He is a horse that has carried big weights all spring and to drop to that luxury weight means he will be very competitive.
“We are going into the Melbourne Cup the old-fashioned way through Derby Day but this is the proven way of winning the race.’’
The Offer, a Sydney Cup winner last year, returned to form with his tough Bendigo Cup win last week and also drops significantly in weight to 54kg today.
“It is interesting when you go through the winners of the Melbourne Cup very few win with big weights,’’ Waterhouse said.
“To get in under the weight-for-age scale is such an advantage – every ounce counts as they say – and both of my Cup horses are well weighted.’’
Waterhouse and champion jockey Damien Oliver combined with Fiorente two years ago and Oliver will ride The Offer.
If Oliver can win the big race, he will join Bobbie Lewis and Harry White as the only jockeys to win four Melbourne Cups.
The Offer has drawn barrier 13 and Excess Knowledge out in 24 but these awkward gates don’t faze Waterhouse.
“My father’s favourite number was 13 and they can win from 24 – I never worry about barriers,’’ she said.
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