Grangewilliam Stud celebrated further success in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) when the champion mare Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) powered to an outstanding victory at Flemington on Tuesday. The Waitotara nursery, located about 30km north-west of Wanganui, is operated by Mark Corcoran, who stands trainer Chris Waller’s star six-year-old’s sire Zed. Verry Elleegant continued the Corcoran’s success in the Flemington feature as Mark’s father John bred Doriemus, who in 1995 famously completed the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double. “It’s huge for us, that’s our second Melbourne Cup winner and third…
Year: 2021
Melbourne Cup victory caps a terrific Tuesday for Goodwin
Don Goodwin can now add Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) breeder and owner to his resume after Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) was a resounding winner of the staying feature at Flemington on Tuesday. The winner of nine prior Group One races, Goodwin was confident of a bold showing from his classy mare and he was jubilant she was able to pull the historic win off. “I am immensely proud,” Goodwin said from his Auckland home. “I was pretty confident but I was even more confident at the end of the big…
Mighty Kiwi mare triumphs in Melbourne Cup
New Zealand-bred star Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) has again confirmed her champion status, cruising to victory in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday by a stunning four lengths. The Chris Waller-trained mare landed her tenth Group One victory under a gun James McDonald ride, with the pair a match made in heaven. The class horse of the field, Verry Elleegant lumped 57kgs in the famed handicap and overcame a wide barrier in 19, relishing racing three-wide and tracking key hope Spanish Mission (Noble Mission). Favourite Incentivise (Shamus…
Bishara buzzing after Melbourne Cup victory
When a spindly legged filly walked into South Auckland trainer Nick Bishara’s stable a few years ago, a future Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner was the furthest thing from his mind. But that filly turned into one of the greatest mares to grace the Australasian turf, and on Tuesday she made a dream a reality for Bishara and her group of owners when she demolished her opposition in the Melbourne Cup to record her tenth Group One success. “That just blew me away,” said an astonished Bishara. “She put them…
First Aussie win for Preferment
Brighthill Farm stallion Preferment recorded his first Australian win as a sire when his daughter Smirk (NZ) was victorious over 1400m at Newcastle last Saturday. The three-year-old filly was having her second career start and stamped the landmark win impressively with a barnstorming late finish. Fittingly she is trained by Preferment’s former trainer, Chris Waller, and is raced by the same owners. “It’s great to see Chris and some of the original owners registering Preferment’s first winner in Australia,” Brighthill Farm’s Nick King said. “We have seen a lot of…
Excelman excels at Flemington
Trainer Richard Laming put a circle around the Subzero Handicap (1400m) four months ago for his grey Excelman (NZ) (Reliable Man) and he was delighted that his plan came to fruition at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day. The New Zealand-bred gelding was given a soft passage by jockey Blaike McDougall after drawing the ace barrier and he was able to follow the speed behind pacemaker Naval Envoy throughout, pipping the Danielle Loos-trained runner in the final strides to win by half a length. Laming was duly delighted to score a…
Injury-plagued galloper rewarded with Group success
The well-travelled Cheval Prometteur (Declaration of War) has showed resilience in the face of adversity and his fighting qualities were again showcased at Te Rapa on Melbourne Cup Day. The lightly raced seven-year-old’s career has been interrupted by two serious injuries, but he has battled his way back and produced a gallant performance to reign supreme in the Gr.3 Dunstan Horsefeeds Balmerino Stakes (2000m). “He’s been through a bit and he really deserved that as he’s been such an honest horse all the way through so it’s great to pick…
Buddy’s Melbourne Cup runneth over
A bitterly disappointed Steve White has revealed dreams of Melbourne Cup glory are over for brilliant last start Group 2 Bendigo Cup winner Paua Of Buddy. The lightly-raced Paua Of Buddy has created an enormous impression in winning eight of his 11 starts and looked certain to be a major player in the big-money end-of-year features after a near-record Bendigo Cup triumph on October 16. But an untimely cut to a pastern while trialling at Healesville put White in a race against the clock to have the son of 2017…
Who won the 2021 Melbourne Cup?
Who won the 2021 Melbourne Cup? (Scott Barbour/Racing Photos) The 2021 Melbourne Cup was a big one for several reasons. The crowds were back, the sun was out, and we had one of the best-backed favourites in the great race’s history. But who won the Melbourne Cup in 2021? Incentivise was the punters’ pick several weeks out. Going off at $2.80, the five-year-old gelding was touted as the shortest-priced elect since Phar Lap. On sheer volume of money, Incentivise was the best-supported horse in Melbourne Cup history. For a long…
2021 Melbourne Cup Winner: Verry Elleegant Upsets Incentivise
Another chapter in Verry Elleegant’s outstanding career was written at Flemington on Tuesday as Chris Waller’s mighty mare took out the $7.75 million Lexus Melbourne Cup. The Australian Horse of the Year brought up her 10th Group 1 in the ‘race that stops a nation’, but it was also an emotional result for champion hoop James McDonald. After three decades of walking away empty-handed, the champion hoop finally added a Melbourne Cup to his astonishing resume on the back of a very successful Derby Day last Saturday. The McDonald-Verry Elleegant…