First-rate runner-up
Tom Melbourne connections almost hope for second place
PART-OWNER Terry Henderson said if Tom Melbourne happened to win the Doomben Cup on Saturday, no one would know exactly what to do.
“Well it’s going to ruin the story, it will be a yin and a yang for everybody in the industry because what do we talk about after that?” he said of the bridesmaid who has become something of a cult hero.
Tom Melbourne has been left to fly the flag for Henderson’s OTI Racing after the tendon injury to former Cup favourite Gailo Chop late last week.
Henderson said Gailo Chop could still race again, despite injuring the same tendon that sidelined him for 16 months two years ago.
“If all goes well he will get back into work and then we will assess whether we’re putting too much pressure on the horse or not,” he said.
Tom Melbourne, who is based at trainer Chris Waller’s Gold Coast stables, will try to snap a two-year losing drought in the $650,000 Doomben Cup (2000m).
He has garnered one of the biggest followings in Australian racing after notching 10 second placings – including in the Hollindale Stakes at the Coast last run – since that day in March 2016 at Albury.
Henderson says he and the fellow owners enjoy the banter that now accompanies the horse every time he races.
“I think it’s very good for racing. Especially in Victoria, we need to lighten up a bit,” he said.
“The story around Tom, even though it’s far more flippant than what’s happened down here at the moment (with the Aquanita scandal), is actually good.”
Henderson describes Tom Melbourne as “quirky”.
“Gailo is an absolute puppy dog, whereas Tom is a normal horse but he has some of these very unusual habits,” he said.
“Early days, he used to pile up all his straw in the middle of his box for some reason. It was quite odd. If he was a kid you would be getting him treated by somebody.
“I think he’s just been a victim of being beaten by better horses in the majority of cases and in a couple of cases, a bit of bad luck.
“Either he’s an equine freak or a statistical freak. He’s won well over a million dollars now and he’s won $700,000-odd since his last win.
“I think those around him, and Chris (Waller) himself, they like the horse.”