Americain storms to Melbourne Cup

French stayer Americain became only the fourth international winner of Australia’s Melbourne Cup with a storming finish at Flemington racecourse yesterday.

The six-year-old, ridden perfectly by French jockey Gerald Mosse, surged home down the centre of a rain-affected track to claim the 150th running of the 3,200-metre Cup by two and three-quarters of a length.

Mosse even had time to blow a kiss to the cheering 100,000 crowd as he flashed past the winning post, yesterday.

Americain, trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, surged past heavily-backed race favourite So You Think about 200m from the finish to claim victory.

The six million Australian dollar (5.9 million US) Melbourne Cup is the world’s third richest horse race, behind only the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Japan Cup.

Maluckyday ran on stoutly for second with the Bart Cummings’ champion So You Think a fading third, another half-length away.

“I was a bit nervous when I saw the favourite starting to cruise between horses at the 700m mark and I was a bit stuck and I didn’t want to let him get too far away,” a mud-splattered Mosse said after the race.

“Then I always had the race in hand. I went to the outside to make sure that I was clear and keep out of trouble... I pressed the button at the right time.”

Americain, by US sire Dynamformer out of Irish mare America, joins Irish pair Vintage Crop (1993) and Media Puzzle (2002) and Japan’s Delta Blues (2006) as the select international winners of the Melbourne Cup.

De Royer-Dupre now adds the Melbourne Cup to his two victories in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“Before it looked a very difficult challenge to be competitive in this great race in Australia, but I was very confident, he’s a really good horse,” de Royer-Dupre told reporters.