Red Cadeaux in return trip

BY the time Red Cadeaux touches down in England next month, he will have clocked up more than 325,000km in the air – which equals around 10 return flights from Melbourne to London.

Apart from the English warrior’s Melbourne Cup record – three seconds from four attempts – Red Cadeaux’s greatest quality is durability.

Capacity to cope with international travel underpins the veteran’s astonishing Flemington record as the evergreen prepares for Saturday’s Australian Cup.

Most horses have never been on a plane; only a select few, mostly shuttle stallions, have roamed the globe as routinely as Red Cadeaux.

None has done it as nonchalantly as a nine-year-old gelding with a good memory.

When Robin Trevor-Jones and Steve Nicholson, the pair entrusted with Red Cadeaux’s welfare and performance, returned to Werribee last month it was horse rather than human on autopilot.

As the Englishmen worked through their jet-lag after completing the trip from Newmarket via Amsterdam, Sharjah and Singapore to Melbourne, Red Cadeaux got straight down to business.

“He knows exactly where he is,” Trevor-Jones said.

“The first day or second day when we get here, he’s always hand-led.

“When we came back this time, he charged and led Steve to the gate to get out on the track.

“He wanted to get out on the track on the first day he was here.”

Red Cadeaux is stabled in the barn which bears his name, in the same box he has twice occupied previously.

More than any other import – even those who have won Melbourne and Caulfield Cups and Cox Plates – Red Cadeaux has made Werribee Racecourse his home away from home.

The facilities and relaxed environs are among the reasons he has been so effective in Australia’s most famous race.

Red Cadeaux’s affinity with his temporary Australian base has helped him earn $2,825,000 from four Melbourne Cup attempts.

Second placings to Dunaden (2011), Fiorente (2013) and Protectionist (2014) delivered $900,000 windfalls while an eighth to Green Moon in 2012 returned $125,000 for owner Ronald Arculli.

Trevor-Jones, who represents trainer Ed Dunlop, said Red Cadeaux was thriving.

“We’re still on plan A, the plan we came with to Werribee – Plan A is Australian Cup and all his training is going according to the plan,” he said.

After contesting the Australian Cup, Red Cadeaux will head north for the Sydney Cup before returning to England for a fifth Melbourne Cup preparation.