This was published 10 months ago
The Melbourne Cup moment that had Richmond stars sweating
By Andrew Wu and Peter Ryan
Your wrap-up of Melbourne Cup news
- Second for Soulcombe: So near, yet so far for Richmond footballers.
- Retiring jockey Damien Oliver finished well back and he could not be certain who had won.
Slow-starting Soulcombe takes second for Tiger contingent
Peter Ryan
As Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira battled through the excited crowd, standing between the jockeys’ room and the horse he was riding in the Melbourne Cup, he accidentally tripped over an unsuspecting patron’s foot.
Although he recovered quickly, the stumble was not the best omen for the ‘Magic Man’ who faced the challenge of ensuring his mount, the slow-starting Soulcombe, jumped from the barriers with the rest of the field before he even contemplated negotiating the two miles ahead of them.
But evading the smiling faces that dripped with sweat in the hot sun – eyes hidden by fascinators and aviator sunglasses as they crammed together to live what they had banged on about all week – was, it turned out, perfect preparation for what lay ahead in the Cup.
Moreira knew he would need to weave his way through traffic to hit the line first.
What he could not know until the moment arrived was which path would lead him into fresh air and which would see him hit dead ends.
But it was first things first as Soulcombe’s owners – among them John O’Neill, Ozzie Kheir and half-a-dozen nervous Richmond footballers Jack Riewoldt, Tom Lynch, Jayden Short, Nathan Broad, Liam Baker and Jack Graham – as well as Cup-winning trainer Chris Waller who only had eyes for Soulcombe as his four starters jumped, all focused on whether Moreira’s magic hands could trick the gelding into jumping.
“That was the whole point, we were like ‘Come on boys, how are we going to jump?’” Richmond premiership player Jack Graham said post-race.
Three lengths was lost, but it was twice as positive as the Caulfield Cup start when he gave the rest of the field six lengths’ head start.
Soulcombe (No.6) flew home but could not make up the ground to beat Without A Fight.Credit: Getty Images
Everyone was happy, including Moreira who settled in the back six, trailing the eventual winner Without A Fight – wearing yellow and black silks – in running.
Then the moment came at about the 600-metre mark as the horses that could not stay began to struggle to maintain the pace set by Without A Fight and Soulcombe.
Rather than track Without A Fight into the race Moreira took Soulcombe to the right and ran into his first dead end. The horse then went left and there was a roadblock there. Moreira looked to the fence desperate to find a gap while he watched Without A Fight’s taillights fade into the distance. The moment was lost in an instant.
“[Soulcombe] was coming, but [Without A Fight] was too hard to chase down,” Graham said.
Chris Waller says Soulcombe (behind) will return for the Melbourne Cup next year.Credit: Getty
The owners leaned in to hear Moreira explain how he dodged and weaved in an attempt to find a gap, but one did not open up until it was too late to really challenge.
It was hard to hear the jockey’s exact words, but he moved his body back and forth and from side to side to deliver his message.
“Things didn’t really go his way,” Moreira said. “Not jumping that well made it a little bit difficult for him, as well as getting into a bit of traffic at the 600, 700 metres also counted against him winning the race, but I’m very proud of how he ran.”
Despite the disappointment, Graham could not get the smile off his face.
There was not even a suggestion of hard feelings from the tough-as-nails Graham. He had shared another memorable moment with teammates (Kamdyn McIntosh joined them for the day) and was grateful to own a horse that Waller says will be back again next year in an attempt to win the Cup.
“It shows the ability this horse has. [We have] an exciting future with this horse,” Graham said. “This horse has got huge potential and Moreira loved the ride on it.
“It just gets us more excited, second in a Melbourne Cup. We are just happy to have a runner in the Melbourne Cup to be honest. We would have loved to win, but we will take second.”
The Tigers had succeeded in September and October on the football field but a win on the first Tuesday in November had evaded them, just. Moreira was left to lament what might have been while Graham was gracious in defeat.
“Credit to Without A Fight and Mark Zahra, what a combo,” Graham said.
End of an era as Cup curtain closes on Oliver
Andrew Wu
Damien Oliver was so far away from the finishing line in his last Melbourne Cup that he could not be certain who had won.
“I saw Mark [Zahra] go up so I thought he probably won, I was a fair way off them,” Oliver revealed.
The Melbourne Cup curtain closed on Oliver on Tuesday, though he will not bow out until after the Perth carnival next month.
For casual racegoers who seldom tune into the sport outside of carnival time, there was a sense of nostalgia in Oliver’s 32nd and final ride in the nation’s great race.
A generation of Australians have grown up with Oliver part of their spring carnival soundtrack. He won the first of his three Cups resembling a long-haired surfy on Doriemus in 1995 for Lee Freedman, whose brother and nephew - Anthony and Sam - were triumphant in his last ride in the race.
Damien Oliver returns to the mounting yard on AlenquerCredit: Getty Images
They have cried and celebrated with him. In 2002, they did both at the same time after he rode Media Puzzle to victory just days after his brother Jason died in a race fall.
He is one of few jockeys to have completed Australian racing’s grand slam of the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup and Golden Slipper.
Oliver jumping off Media Puzzle after his incredible 2002 Melbourne Cup win.Credit: Fairfax
Oliver, 51, who can no longer take lightweight rides, does not get the opportunities he once had. In his pomp, he was one of the most sought-after hoops in the land for trainers. These days, the stars of this generation like Zahra, James McDonald and Damian Lane get first crack.
Though he has ridden three winners this Cup carnival, the best of his three rides in the group 1s on Derby Day started at $16.
Since winning his third and final Cup, in 2013 on Fiorente for Gai Waterhouse, Oliver has finished no closer than seventh in his eight rides since.
In Oliver’s final Cup, Alenquer was sent out a $21 chance, largely out of sentiment, but had the form of a 100-1 shot - and ran accordingly, beaten 33.45 lengths in 21st. He would have been about 100 metres from the line when Zahra crossed the finish line on Without A Fight.
“I had a good run, I just would have liked him to relax a little bit better,” Oliver said. “Probably just for mine at this stage [he] didn’t run out a strong two miles.”
Alenquer, for the 2000 Cup-winning trainer Mike Moroney, had been under a fitness cloud leading into the race due to a stone bruise, and was not cleared to run until the early hours of the morning. The public, it seemed, were more anxious about Oliver having a Cup swansong than the man himself.
“I was actually pretty relaxed,” Oliver said. “I didn’t want the horse to run just for the sake of it, conscious of the horse’s wellbeing.
“Both Mike [Moroney] and I are experienced campaigners, we’re past the stage of just wanting a runner. The horse is more important to both of us.”
Some of Australia’s finest jockeys, like Hugh Bowman of Winx fame and Darren Gauci, have yet to taste success in the race that stops a nation. Even the world’s best, Frankie Dettori and Joao Moreira, who kept running into dead ends on runner-up Soulcombe, have found the Cup elusive.
Oliver can at least go to his retirement content to have won it three times, a record bettered only by Bobby Lewis and Harry White. He rides Basilinna in the Oaks, and Duais in the Champions Stakes to bow out on a high.
“They’re [Melbourne Cups] not easy to win,” Oliver said. “It’s been a long career, very fortunate to have had a lot of success. I can’t be complaining.”
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