Dunaden faces tough task to win Melbourne Cup

Sheikh Fahad bin Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani owned Dunaden will have to set a weight record for an overseas horse if he is to land his second consecutive Melbourne Cup at Flemington today. The ante-post favourite to win the Aus $6mn (US$6.2mn) showpiece race over 3,200 metres (two miles) is Americain, who triumphed in 2010. But while all the pre-race talk has been of the two French champions, the event, the highlight of the Australian racing calendar, boasts the best field for many years with 14 Group One winners from four continents. Dunaden received a weight penalty of one kilogram (2.2 pounds) after his impressive win in the 2,400-metre Caulfield Cup lead-up race two weeks ago and will now carry 59 kgs. But Mikel Delzangles, the trainer of the seven-year-old stallion, believes the horse, who won by a nose last year, is good enough to triumph again. “He is carrying a lot of weight but he is in good form,” Delzangles said. “We knew after his Caulfield Cup victory he would have to carry a bit more weight and 59 kgs is a lot. But I’m sure he will try his best.” The French trainer said he was concerned before Dunaden’s Caulfield Cup run because the horse had been sidelined for two weeks with a foot abscess. “So I was a bit surprised he could win. But he’s fit and in good form.” Leading Australian jockey Craig Williams, who will have the Cup mount on Dunaden, is upbeat about his chances. “I don’t believe the weight will stop him,” Williams said. “His form is excellent and he is a four length better horse than last year.” Since the metric system of weights was introduced in Australia in 1972, the biggest weight carried by a Melbourne Cup winner was Think Big (58.5 kgs) in 1975. The mighty mare Makybe Diva had 58 kgs when she won her third straight Melbourne Cup in 2005 but the last horse to win the race with more than 58.5 kg was Rain Lover (60.5 kgs) in 1969. No overseas-trained stayer has managed to win with more than the 56 kgs carried by Japan’s Delta Blues in 2006. If Dunaden is victorious he will be the first overseas horse to win two Melbourne Cups and only the second seven-year-old stallion to win since Tarcoola in 1893. Eight-year-old stallion Americain is trained by the Chantilly master Alain de Royer Dupre and has to carry 58 kg, meaning he would also have to break the weight record for an overseas horse. After a luckless fourth in the Caulfield Cup, French jockey Gerald Mosse has been replaced by local rider Damien Oliver even though Mosse piloted the horse to victory in the Melbourne Cup two years ago. Americain, like Dunaden, will be trying to become the first overseas import to win two Melbourne Cups. English-based Italian trainer Luca Cumani knows how difficult it is to win the race with two of his horses, Purple Moon and Bauer, both finishing second. Cumani has two starters this year, Mount Athos and Quest For Peace (renamed My Quest for Peace while in Australia). Mount Athos has won three times in England since joining the Cumani stableyard but has not raced since August to avoid the handicapper. English jockey Ryan Moore has the mount. “This is the best horse I’ve brought here,” Cumani said.