Irish billionaire JP McManus has never been a man of many words.
But he was even more careful than usual with what he offered minutes after he had watched the Melbourne Cup.
After all, he had bet more than $2 million on the race at Monday’s Call of the Card for no return after his main bets Hopewell Rock, the two horses he owns Trustyourinstinct and Goodie Two Shoes, and Soul of Spain and Zakouma had finished outside the placings.
He said he had found the race exciting, before spotting a gap in the crowd and taking it and politely responding to whether he would be back next year.
“Why not?” McManus said as he disappeared.
His response symbolised the fight of the Irish after countryman Joseph O’Brien’s team of five runners had finished fourth, seventh, 11th, 16th and 22nd to earn $880,000 prizemoney for connections, with McManus grabbing $260,000 of that tally as owner of Trustyourinstinct and Goodie Two Shoes.
Having billed the race as a battle between Ireland and Australia in the lead-up , it was not the result the Irish were after as they watched Australia’s premier trainer Ciaron Maher train the trifecta and prepare five of the first six horses across the line.
Maher, with a record seven runners in the race, also trained Middle Earth into 10th spot and Mr Monaco into 17th.
O’Brien, who had arrived on Monday and had to wait until last night for his luggage to join him, headed up to the committee room, disappearing from the throng leaving his ever-obliging racing manager Kevin Blake to make a vow to return on behalf of the stable.
“Congratulations to the winner. We’ll be back with as many as we possibly can be,” Blake said. “It won’t be for lack of trying.”
He summed up the runs of the quintet as best he could, given only minutes had elapsed since the race’s finish.
“Sons And Lovers ran great and made use of his draw. Kizlyar missing the kick probably didn’t help, given the way we were thinking but that can happen, James J Braddock dropped well back. Trustyourinstinct dropped well back and got home really well. Goodie Two Shoes seemed to have a great spot and didn’t quite finish off as well as last year,” Blake said.
“We thought we had a great team, but we know what this race is like. It’s no good having the team – you need the run on the day.”
There was no complaining or tales of hard luck. They know the game, as does Maher, who reflected on racing’s ups and downs when he recalled leaving the track last Cup Day wondering how he managed to let Half Yours slip through his fingers.
Jockey Craig Williams was clear in explaining why he thought James J Braddock had finished seventh after he had steered him from the outside barrier to the winning post.
“The barrier was a huge disadvantage for him today. It was a muddling-run race ... from the half-mile when they quickened up I thought he was in a really good position, but then on it was inexperience as he went right and left, but in the last 300 [metres] he finished off really well,” Williams said.
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