Damien Oliver reflects on his marvellous Melbourne Cup moments as the retiring champion looks to close out on Alenquer
As Damien Oliver prepares to ride in his final Melbourne Cup, he chews the fat with senior racing writer Ben Dorries about his extraordinary Cup journey.
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Retiring great Damien Oliver chuckles when he traces his extraordinary Melbourne Cup journey from fall-off flop to Cup immortal.
Australia’s greatest rider may have won three Melbourne Cups and is aiming for a record-equalling fourth when he rides roughie Alenquer on Tuesday.
But ahead of Tuesday’s race, his mount Alenquer was under an injury cloud over a stone bruise to the horse’s hoof and will need to be cleared by vets to run.
It’s a little bit more drama for the Oliver story, which started with a red face and sheer embarrassment.
The year was 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and brave souls protested in Tiananmen Square.
A green Oliver, the kid from Perth, was having his first Melbourne Cup ride on longshot Salisopra but he fell off mid-race.
The Oliver/Lee Freedman combination was to became lethal but the young Oliver didn’t really feel like joining in the after-party when Tawrrific landed the ‘89 Melbourne Cup for Freedman and Shane Dye.
“I got about 2000m and Richard Jolly, who was riding Saratov in front of me found some interference and he was trying to hang onto his horse,” Oliver recalls.
“I thought I was going to get around him and the next thing he lost his grip and fell off and my horse tripped over him and I came down.
“I was as flat as a pancake. I was a teenager and no-one else had really wanted to ride my horse.
“I was apprenticed to the Freedmans at the time and they were all partying and I was as flat as a tack that night.”
While Oliver may have felt sheepish about his first Cup ride, it wasn’t an omen for what was to come.
Oliver, known as the GOAT (greatest Aussie jockey of all-time), cherishes his three Melbourne Cup wins on Doriemus (1995), Media Puzzle (2002) and Fiorente a decade ago in 2013.
The Media Puzzle win held enormous personal and family significance due to the tragic death of his brother Jason in a race fall in the lead-up.
But Oliver says it’s hard to split his trio of Melbourne Cup wins or pinpoint his favourite – he says “it’s a bit like your kids, it’s hard to separate them.”
“They are all great memories for different reasons,” he said.
As Oliver approaches his farewell Melbourne Cup ride, after News Corp in August exclusively revealed his retirement plans, we take a walk down memory lane with the jockey great as he reflects on his three Cup wins.
DORIEMUS – 1995
It was the moment that Oliver etched himself in folklore, partnering Caulfield Cup winner Doriemus to score the famed Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double.
Doriemus revelled in the rain-affected going to defeat Victoria Derby winner Nothin’ Leica Dane and 1993 Melbourne Cup winner Vintage Crop.
“It was a huge thrill, I had run second in the Melbourne Cup the year before on Paris Lane where I thought we had a great chance but we drew wide and Wayne Harris won it on Jeune,” Oliver said.
“The wide gate probably cost me a bit in 1994, but it gave me a great taste for it.
“I really felt I was getting closer to a Melbourne Cup win.
“Doriemus had won the Caulfield Cup but then it came up wet for the Melbourne Cup and we didn’t really know if he would like it.
“But it turned out he loved it.
“I remember A Current Affair flying me in a chopper from the middle of Flemington to do an interview in their (Melbourne) studios with my Mum and grandmother in Perth.
“Then they gave me a car for the rest of the night so I drove that back to Flemington and went back and partied with the Freedmans in the birdcage and we had a great time.”
MEDIA PUZZLE – 2002
The terrible events leading up to the 2002 Cup are well known, with Oliver losing his brother.
He remembers that Cup a lot more for tragedy than triumph.
But, tears welling in his eyes, Oliver said he remains glad he was able to get himself together and win the Cup.
“That Cup I remember more for sadness unfortunately, for losing my brother,” Oliver reflects.
“I was glad I was able to pull it off, but it wasn’t really one I could enjoy.
“It was more sadness and the memory is more of losing my brother more than winning the Cup.
“We had a few celebrations that night and then I flew back to Perth for his funeral to bury him.
“When I look back now, I was glad I was able to pull myself together.
“That Melbourne Cup win was a huge honour and tribute to Jason who was a big influence in my career.”
FIORENTE – 2013
Watch Damien Oliver pilot Fiorente in his 2013 Melbourne Cup win, securing @GaiWaterhouse1 her first career Cup pic.twitter.com/DScKwwaBlz
— 7HorseRacing 🎠(@7horseracing) October 28, 2016
It was the most recent of Oliver’s Melbourne Cup wins and will probably always be remembered best for being the breakthrough win of racing’s first lady Gai Waterhouse.
Oliver remembers the extreme trust Waterhouse placed in both horse and jockey that day.
“I kind of felt that although (runner-up) Red Cadeaux made me work for it, Fiorente was always going to win,” Oliver said.
“He had a beautiful run and he was a good horse and I just had to time it right on him.
“I had never ridden him in a race, but I had done all the work on him and I had a lot of confidence in the horse.
“Gai is really passionate and driven and she loves everyone being part of the team, working in together.
“That was the biggest thing that I got from her, she gives her jockeys a lot of confidence and trust.
“She didn’t give me many instructions, we all know she likes a lot of her horses to be ridden on the pace but with that one she just really backed my judgement in how to ride the horse and ride the race.”
As for near Melbourne Cup misses, Oliver still wonders how the 2006 Cup was the one that got away.
He returned from a back injury to ride Japanese horse Pop Rock – only to be beaten by stablemate Delta Blues as the Land of the Rising Sun secured a famous Cup quinella.
“Delta Blues was flat out keeping up with Pop Rock at trackwork, he used to beat him easily,” Oliver laughs.
“I had never been so confident going into a Melbourne Cup, even though Pop Rock didn’t really get around Caulfield in the Caulfield Cup.
“When I straightened up in the Melbourne Cup and saw Delta Blues in front, I was laughing to myself.
“I just didn’t think I would get beaten.
“I had just come back from a bad injury where I had been out for 15 months with a broken back.
“I knew how good the Japanese horses were, so I was really determined to get back for that Cup.”
As for the overseas flavour in modern-day Melbourne Cups, Oliver says he can understand some of the sentiment from punters who struggle to follow the Cup like they used to.
But he says the bottom line is that European stayers are stronger than Australian or New Zealand stayers, so having the internationals makes for a better race.
“Back in the day, all the Melbourne Cup horses would run in the traditional lead-ups, so punters had a good feeling and understanding of the horses,” Oliver said.
“So, to some degree, I can understand that they find the Cup harder to follow these days.
“That’s because they don’t see a lot of the Cup horses until late and they don’t see them race regularly.
“Owners these days like to buy European-bred stayers.
“There will always be a place for Australian horses in the Melbourne Cup, but I do think the European stayers are stronger than ours.”
Originally published as Damien Oliver reflects on his marvellous Melbourne Cup moments as the retiring champion looks to close out on Alenquer
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