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A foreign affair
Steven LynchNovember 14, 2014
The winner of the 2014 Melbourne Cup was trained in Germany. Was this a first? asked James Hatfield
Protectionist, schooled in Westphalia by Andreas Wohler, was indeed the first German-trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup. Wohler's most-notable international success before this was in training Novellist to win the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in 2013 - although he has won the German Derby three times.
Overseas success in the Melbourne Cup (other than horses from nearby New Zealand) is relatively unusual. Comedy King (1910) and Backwood (1924) were born in England but taken to Australia as foals, while Beldale Ball (1980) was sent to Australia after an undistinguished start to his racing career in the UK. At Talaq, the 1986 winner, was trained in America, and Jeune (1994) in England. All of these, though, were taken to Australia well in advance of their victories at Flemington.
But things changed in 1993, when Vintage Crop - trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld - was flown Down Under not long before the big race. His victory showed that horses could acclimatise quickly - and since then the Cup has been won by overseas entrants in Media Puzzle (another Weld entry in 2002), Delta Blues (2006, Japan; Pop Rock, another Japanese entry, was second), Americain (2010, France), and Dunaden (France, 2011).
Green Moon (2012) and Fiorente (2013) were bred in Ireland, and initially trained there, but were taken to Australia later.
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