Raymond Tusk owners singing in the rain
All the rain in the world would not have bothered the connections of Melbourne Cup hopeful Raymond Tusk.
All the rain in the world would not have bothered the connections of Melbourne Cup hopeful Raymond Tusk as they gathered in the city centre on Monday.
As star jockeys and the trainers of some of the world’s best staying horses ducked under umbrellas on Bourke Street, members of the Middleham Park Racing syndicate were beaming.
Syndicate manager Tom Palin, 29, offered a couple of decent reasons for their joy.
The first regarded the effect the wet weather was having on the Flemington track, which was rated a Soft 6 on Monday afternoon.
“That is fine for the horse. It likes a bit of sting out of the ground,” he said.
Nor were the miserable conditions going to deter the avid fans of a syndicate racing a Melbourne Cup hopeful for the first time.
Trainer Richard Hannon Jr and jockey Jamie Spencer were snaring some much needed sleep on Monday after jetting in from the US. But nine of the 15 different connections in the five-year-old were on hand for the Cup eve parade through Melbourne, which continued through the rain and a top temperature of 14C.
“This is warm for us. We have just come from three degrees and 50mm of rain. We are very happy in this,” Palin said. “We are standing in Melbourne on a closed street, about to walk down behind a car with our name on it and he is about the fourth favourite for the Melbourne Cup, one of the biggest races arguably in the world. We feel privileged just to be here.”
The stallion shapes as a $21 sleeper for the $8m race and came into calculations by running a strong fourth in the Ebor Handicap in late August.
The syndicate received offers of interest from Australia after the run but opted against selling, with good reason. “We got quite a few offers from Australian agents to trying to buy him to come down here, but we said no. We are going to do it ourselves and have all the fun ourselves,” Palin said.
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