After an outstanding Breeders’ Cup Britain was once again confirmed as the source of international champions on Tuesday when Fiorente triumphed in the 153rd running of the Melbourne Cup.
Formerly trained in Newmarket by Sir Michael Stoute, Fiorente led home a 1-2-3-4-5 for British-sourced runners. The redoubtable Red Cadeaux did best of the British-trained raiders, finishing runner-up for the second time for Ed Dunlop, while Luca Cumani provided a placed horse once again with Mount Athos taking third place.
They were followed home by Simenon, runner-up in this year’s Ascot Gold Cup, and Dandino, trained in Britain by Marco Botti.
Carter Carnegie, International Executive of Great British Racing International, commented: “The fantastic performances by runners trained and bought in Britain highlights again the incredible quality and variety of bloodstock bred and sold here in Britain.
“The amazing results at the recent Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale show the huge appeal of Britain as a source of top-class performers for buyers from around the world, with over 30 countries represented at the sale, and those results are being borne out globally on the racecourse.”
Tattersalls graduates filled the placed spots in the race, headed by Red Cadeaux who was purchased for just 55,000gns during Book 3 of the October Yearling sales in 2007 and has now won over £3m. The third-placed Mount Athos is a graduate of Tattersalls’ Autumn Horses in Training Sale where he was purchased for 190,000gns in 2010, while Simenon is also a Tattersalls yearling graduate, having been purchased for 60,000gns during Book 2 in 2008.
A first winner of the ‘race that stops a nation’ for legendary trainer Gai Waterhouse, Fiorente was sourced from Britain for a reported A$1m at the end of last year prior to his second place in Australia’s most famous race in 2012.
The five-year-old Fiorente enjoyed his finest hour in the northern hemisphere when winning the Group 2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket’s July meeting, defeating fellow globetrotters Joshua Tree and Red Cadeaux, before he was purchased by his Australian owners.
