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Herman Brown Thrilled with Melbourne Cup Third Place

Published by charl on November 5, 2009

SOUTH African trainer Herman Brown was thrilled when his charge Mourilyan ran on strongly to finish third in the $5.5 Melbourne Cup over 3200m at Flemington on Tuesday, writes JEFF ZERBST.

Ridden by Glyn Schofield, the 20-1 chance got held up in the straight but shot through late to chase the front two to the wire.

“That was some experience!” enthused Brown. “No racing carnival anywhere in the world compares to this. I want to come back next year and have another go at the race,” he added.

Mourilyan’s cause wasn’t helped when frontrunners Warringah and Fiumicino set a slow gallop.

“He needed more pace up front to bring him into it,” said Brown.

The trainer was full of praise for SA jockey Glyn Schofield, who followed instructions and wait to pounce with the stable’s “sleeping lion”.

“It was the perfect ride,” said Brown. “Glyn had to wait a while before getting a run, but that’s racing. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Needless to say, the Australian Greens want the Australian government to seize the $420,000 third place prize so that it doesn’t go to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.

“There should be no flow out of profits from Australia to this brutal character,” said the party’s leader, Bob Brown.

“The money should be quarantined until the government knows exactly where it is going.”

On the racing front, as opposed to the political, Alcopop (15-4) was backed to favouritism and had every chance in the running. When the chips were down in the straight, however, he couldn’t match the acceleration of a horse he’d easily beaten in his previous race.

That horse was Shocking (9-1), trained by Mark Kavanagh and ridden by Corey Brown.

The 4yo Street Cry (IRE) entire flew down the outside to join issue with Godolphin’s 40-1 shot Crime Scene (Kerrin McEvoy) with 300m to run.

Shocking was travelling the better but Crime Scene rallied inside the final 150m. Corey Brown’s mount carried too many guns, though, and won by three parts of a length with Mourilyan only 1 ½ lengths further back in third.

Victory was oh-so-sweet for jockey and rider, both of whom had monkeys on their seasoned backs.

Jockey Brown had finished second in last year’s race on Bauer and reportedly still hadn’t got over that disappointment. This time he found redemption.

“I was having flashbacks to last year,” said Brown, who was spitting chips when caught three wide for most of the race.

Things panned out well in the straight though, and Brown was elated when he realised the race was his.

“It’s a feeling words can’t describe,” he said.

For trainer Mark Kavanagh, the win turned around a feature season that looked headed for disaster.

Kavanagh’s 2008 Cox Plater winner Maldivian went wrong and had to be retired owing to a leg injury. Then he saw his red-hot favourite Whobegotyou flop in the Cox Plate. His Victoria Derby favourite Shamoline Warrior had to be scratched on the morning of the race owing to a lung infection.

The wheel started turning, however, when Shocking secured a Melbourne Cup berth with a win in the Gr. 3 Lexus Stakes (2500m) on Saturday and he was able to take the class jump and win the Melbourne Cup at a track where he is unbeaten.

Bart Cummings’ three runners failed to shape in the Cup although top weight Viewed (11-2) was far from disgraced in finishing seventh in a slow-run race.

The race drew 102,000 racegoers to Flemington and Tabcorp punters alone wagered $143 million.

Bookies say it wasn’t a vintage day since Shocking was third favourite and was the second-best backed runner. Even the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was on him.

The race never lacks for drama and there was plenty before the horses even arrived on course. David Hayes’ entrant Changingoftheguard was scratched for lameness by the order of three club vets.

Hayes was seething.

“I’ve never been so insulted,” he said. “Three people walk into my stable and take it out on the biggest day of my life.

“The horse was fine to run.”

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