Slow start can’t stop Japan raider
Japan claimed a second Caulfield Cup victory in five years with Mer De Glace overcoming a slow start to win in the $NZ5.8 million race yesterday.
Like Admire Rakti, who won for Tomoyuki Umeda in 2014, Mer De Glace settled back in the field before circling his rivals to score a dominant win.
Under Damian Lane, Mer De Glace ($8) scored by a length from Vow And Declare ($8) with Mirage Dancer ($16) a head away third.
A trip to Japan by Lane during the cooler Melbourne months cemented the partnership with Mer De Glace’s trainer Hisashi Shimizu.
It was Lane who persuaded the trainer to bring Mer De Glace to Melbourne after winning two races on the horse during his visit.
‘‘Connections were really happy to come because it looked like he was going to get 53 kilos,’’ Lane said.
‘‘But then he won again and it was questionable because he was going to go up to 55.5.
‘‘I begged them to because I knew 55.5 was winnable weight.
‘‘It’s a big effort to get him here in the order they did and I’m just so happy to be a part of it.’’
Lane said Mer De Glace was nothing to look at and described him as a tradesman who keeps turning up and winning.
Having the second widest draw in the 18-horse field was no come still a barrier for Lane, who allowed Mer De Glace to settle back in second-last place.
‘‘I couldn’t go the speed early and took my medicine and rode him cold,’’ Lane said.
‘‘He switched off and was going to win a long way out.’’
Lane now has the chance to add the Cox Plate to his record when he partners $3.60 favourite Lys Glacieux, another Japanese visitor, in next Saturday’s $5.4 million race at Moonee Valley.
Mer De Glace shortened from $26 into $9 for the Melbourne Cup, while northern three-year-old Constaninople firmed to $7, following his unlucky fourth.
Kiwi hope The Chosen One loomed up on the turn, but only battled into ninth. The youngest horse in the race upstaged his older and more experienced rivals to win the $NZ16 million Everest (1200m) at Randwick yesterday.
Yes Yes Yes, one of three runners for champion expat-Kiwi trainer Chris Waller, downed Australia’s highest-rated sprinter Santa Ana Lane to claim the world’s richest race on turf.
Sent out at $9, the three-yearold came out of the pack and widest of all under confident riding from Glen Boss, to beat the $5.50 second favourite by halfa-length.
Trekking ($31) was another long neck third while All Blacks coach and part-owner Steve Hansen got a run for his money when Nature Strip, also trained by Waller, set the pace and rallied well for fourth, earning $870,000.
‘‘To tell you the truth it was an amazing feeling,’’ said Waller. ‘‘Where we’ve been with [champion mare] Winx, where she took us has set us up for days like this.’’
Yes Yes Yes was originally trained by the now disqualified Darren Weir.