The worldwide thoroughbred powerhouse of Godolphin vow to be back in 2017 to try again to win their first Melbourne Cup.
Almandin, blue colours with red cap, beats Heartbreak City, yellow, in the 2016 Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
While Lloyd Williams was celebrating his fifth win in the ‘Race That Stops A Nation’ with Almandin yesterday, trainer Charlie Appleby who trains for Godolphin out of his Newmarket stables in England, said that he will return to Australia next year with plenty of ammunition to try to win the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) run at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.
Five Godolphin horses wore Sheik Mohammed ‘s royal blue colours in yesterday’s Melbourne Cup with fourth placed Qewy and twelfth placed Oceanographer being prepared by Appleby, Saeed Bin Suroor was in charge of Beautiful Romance (7th) and Secret Number (21st) while the Sheik’s Australian trainer John O’Shea put the final touches on third placegetter Hartnell who was sent out as the $5.50 favourite.
Appleby was pleased with the achievements of his two runners and said that he try to qualify more runners for next year’s Melbourne Cup.
“His Highness is just happy we are participating … but coming down here and winning it is another matter,” Appleby said.
“I can only talk for my horses and they performed well.
“If you had told me a month ago that Qewy and Oceanographer were going to run well in this race and Qewy was going to finish fourth, I would have said you were on a different planet to me.
“They performed out of their skins.”
“As His Highness will always say, if you don’t win it this year, the race will be on again next year.”
“We (Godolphin) will have more than five Cup runners next year. I might have five Cup runners myself next year.”
Godolphin trained horses have finished second in the Melbourne Cup on three occasions with Central Park in 1999, Give The Slip in 2001 and Crime Scene in 2009 and unlike the Godolphin stable, Williams now has five Melbourne Cup trophies sitting on the mantelpiece at Macedon Lodge with Almandin joining his other Cup winners Just A Dash (1981), What A Nuisance (1985), Efficient (2007) and Green Moon in 2012.
