First Lady in first (and second) place
THERE’S an air of chaos everywhere Gai Waterhouse goes.
But even by Waterhouse’s standards, it was another level of chaos inside the mounting yard yesterday when the two horses she trained ran the quinella in the Geelong Cup.
Local owners of the winner Anthony Mithen and Nigel Austin were mobbed by their family and friends as Waterhouse buzzed between celebrating with the Rosemont Stud crew and consoling the owners of Northwest Passage, a horse that had run so well to finish second.
“To have two runners in the race GEELONG breeder-owner Anthony Mithen has declared Runaway’s Geelong Cup victory yesterday as his crowning moment.
The four-year-old gelding son of Manhattan Rain, trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, was bred at Gnarwarre’s Rosemont Stud and defeated a field of internationally bred gallopers to keep a Melbourne Cup dream alive.
Mithen, stud principal at Rosemont Farm, said it was his biggest achievement.
“It’s as big as I’ve ever had,” he said.
“I’ve won Group 1 races but to and for them to run first and second is a trainer’s dream,” Waterhouse said.
“Anthony and Nigel were very keen that Runaway run … (We discussed) will he run at Moonee Valley on Saturday or will he run here and they said ‘We are Geelong boys’. I said ‘No discussion (we will go to Geelong)’.”
Australia’s First Lady of Racing is flamboyant — she talks the talk and has the training ability to back it up on the track.
But the Geelong Cup has been a race of little luck for Waterhouse.
In 2005 she had race favourite Mr Celebrity, who stumbled out of the barriers and was declared a non-runner. The horse went back to last and flashed home for fourth, a huge effort win your hometown cup with a horse that you bred, that’s pretty cool.
“It’s a big occasion, that’s for sure.” given the circumstances.
Yesterday was an enormous training performance. She took the star European stayers on at their own game and beat them with a horse bred just up the road at Gnarwarre.
Race favourite Withhold was one of the main contenders for this year’s Melbourne Cup, while third place finisher Finche brought some A-grade European form to the race.
What they didn’t count on was running into Waterhouse and her training partner Adrian Bott.
“You have to bow to the superior might, and on the whole they (Europeans) are better stayers but today … Aussie, Aussie, Aussie,” Waterhouse chuckled.