She’s Apples: Charlie first English trainer to win Cup

Trainer Charlie Appleby finally struck gold for Godolphin and for English trainers in the Melbourne Cup.

Trainer Charlie Appleby with jockey Kerrin McEvoy and Melbourne Cup winner Cross Counter at Flemington yesterday

When Charlie Appleby became head trainer for Godolphin at Newmarket five years ago, he aimed to lift the stable back to the position of pre-eminence it enjoyed a decade earlier.

After giving Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum a maiden Melbourne Cup win with Cross Counter yesterday, in the process becoming the first English trainer to claim Australia’s most famous race, Appleby took another step towards his aim.

Cross Counter’s win follows the triumph of Masar in the Epsom (English) Derby earlier this year, with the 43-year-old understandably delighted with the success enjoyed by the Moulten Paddocks-based arm of the global giant. Not long after Kerrin McEvoy, with whom he formed a friendship when working as the stable’s head lad last decade, passed the finishing post aboard Cross Counter yesterday, Appleby received a phone call from the delighted owner.

“This is everybody’s dream. This is all down to Sheikh Mohammed. He’s the one that’s given us all the encouragement to take the chances in what we do internationally,” he said.

“You have all these aspirations. A few of you were probably there when I was lucky enough to get a licence five years ago. I was asked on that occasion, ‘What two races would you like to win for Godolphin?’ and thankfully I have … won the Derby and the Melbourne Cup. I am just so thrilled to do that. This year has just been a stellar year and thanks for all the support for everybody. We have proven ourselves now.”

“This is huge. This is huge for everybody.”

A fortnight ago, Appleby’s chances of securing the Melbourne Cup looked in significant peril. A spring campaign in Melbourne was turning hellish.

Emotionless had been ruled out of the carnival after suffering an injury just before the Caulfield Cup.

Hamada, considered a leading candidate, suffered a tragic fate when euthanased after fracturing a leg while galloping in track work at Werribee.

And Cross Counter suffered a cut to a leg, forcing the stable to briefly halt Melbourne Cup preparations. But Appleby remained in constant contact with travelling foreman Chris Connet and was hopeful the setback would prove only temporary, with his hunch proving correct.

“The horse had a setback two weeks ago and it is hard when you are trying to instruct the team when you are so far away, but I had a great team over here,” he said.

“We had daily videos and conferences on what needed to be done. Is there any pressure? No. The pressure is not there. The sense of achievement is amazing, yes.

“That just proves how hard it is to get these horses to this occasion. There are championship races all around the world and horses are being scratched at the last minute.

“Getting the horses here and getting them to the last date, that is a winner in my book. To get the result on top, that is the finished article.”

Appleby, who has trained 11 Group I winners this year, said he learned from a previous Melbourne Cup campaign that backing-up horses quickly in Australia was not necessarily ideal.

His horses enjoyed success on that trip but failed to produce their best form in the Melbourne Cup. Instead, he kept Cross Counter fresh after a last start second at York on August 22.

“I learned a couple of years ago that it is tough to back up a horse quick. I purposely wanted to run him back in Europe … and he was wrapped up and put away and from then on, this was his goal,” he said.