Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls
For one set of owners, one jockey and one trainer, this Tuesday is likely to be a life-changing event. Most of us will never know what that feeling is like to win a Melbourne Cup, but for David Redvers, the racing manager for Sheikh Fahad who won the race in 2011 with Dunaden (Fr) (Nicobar {GB}), it’s a feeling that still sticks with him eight years after that thrilling success.
That day at Flemington was enormously significant, and not just for the fact it was the narrowest victory in the 150-year history of the legendary race. It was the biggest success for Sheikh Fahad's fledging thoroughbred interests, then named Pearl Bloodstock, and a giant step in the establishment of Qatar Racing as a global powerhouse.
Two years prior, Redvers had accepted an invite to meet with a young member of the Qatari royal family who had ambitions to build a racing and breeding operation. He and Sheikh Fahad formed an iconic partnership and celebrated their first Group 1 success when Lightening Pearl (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) won the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket in September 2011 for trainer Ger Lyons.
Sheikh Fahad and David Redvers
Six weeks later, on the other side of the world, Redvers and Sheikh Fahad took on Australia's most famous race with the Mikel Dezangles-trained Dunaden, an experience that still resonates with Redvers.
"I will never forget the sensation of walking out of the tunnel into the mounting yard. It was like running onto the pitch for a World Cup final. Every hair stood on end," Redvers told TDN AusNZ.
"I will never forget the sensation of walking out of the tunnel into the mounting yard. It was like running onto the pitch for a World Cup final." - David Redvers
It was a build-up that had been already full of drama as Craig Williams tried and failed to overturn a suspension to ride the horse resulting in a late call-up for Christophe Lemaire. But that was nothing compared to the race itself as Dunaden edged out Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Generaux {GB}) in a photo finish which took an age to determine a winner.
"The drama of the photo finish and the elation of the result along with Sheikh Fahad’s excitement will live long in the memory," Redvers said.
"We had just won our first Group 1 with Lightening Pearl at Newmarket, but to compete and win on the biggest stage of all awoke some influential people to the possibilities, not least Sheikh Fahad’s own family who then took up the gauntlet."
The true significance of the event began to hit home when Redvers and Sheikh Fahad departed Australia the following day with one of the most precious pieces of silverware in racing.
Christophe Lemaire
"At the airport the next day, the Air NZ staff recognised us while the security staff at the X-ray machines all wanted their picture with the Cup," he said.
"When we finally sat down on the plane, Sir Patrick Hogan who was sitting a few rows back stood up and announced Sheikh Fahad to the passengers and crew who then all wanted selfies with Sheikh Fahad and the Cup. The whole thing was mind blowing."
The genesis of Qatar Racing
The longer-term impacts were even greater. Soon after Qatar Racing was formed by the broader Al Thani family and in the past six years under Redvers' stewardship, has become one of the major players in global racing and breeding, winning races all over the world.
Just last Friday, Qatar Racing claimed the first-ever Group 1 race to be run on a synthetic track in Britain when Kameko (USA) (Kitten's Joy {USA}) won the G1 Futurity Trophy S.
Qatar Racing has experienced success in Australia both on the track and with its ongoing breeding interests, most notably through multiple Group 1 winner and now rising star stallion Zoustar (Northern Meteor), while Redvers has an ongoing involvement with the local bloodstock scene through his pinhooking operation Redwall Bloodstock, run in partnership with Hannah Wall.
He admits all that only became possible through the successes of Dunaden, which opened his eyes to the opportunities in the Australian thoroughbred industry.
"Once you’ve experienced a Melbourne Cup win, you never cease looking for the next success," he said.
David Redvers and Hannah Wall inspecting yearlings | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
Cup holds special significance
The Melbourne Cup is still a race which holds great allure for Redvers. He rates it alongside the Arc and the Epsom and Kentucky Derbies as races which hold special historical significance.
"They are the historical races of huge importance and winning them leaves a legacy," he said.
"They are the historical races of huge importance and winning them leaves a legacy." - David Redvers
He also feels the internationalisation of the Cup since Vintage Crop (Ire) (Rousillon {USA}) became the first non Australasian-trained winner of the race in 1993, has only bolstered its standing.
While there are only two Australian-bred horses in this year's race and just half the field of 24 is trained on home soil, he doesn't think any sort of quota is needed to protect the local horses.
Redvers believes locally-bred Vow And Declare has an excellent chance
"If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. If you protect Australian interests by limiting the opposition, the Melbourne Cup is tarnished and fades in its relevance," he said.
Redvers believes that Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War {USA}) is an excellent chance to become the first locally-bred winner of the race in 10 years, while he also believes Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Mustajeer (GB) (Medicean {GB}) have strong chances.
Onus on owners to ensure equine welfare
This year's Melbourne Cup will be run in a slightly different atmosphere than previous editions, with greater public scrutiny of equine welfare after a much-publicised media report into the treatment of retired racehorses.
Redvers said it placed a focus on the need to make all owners responsible for the ongoing care of thoroughbreds beyond their racing life.
Redvers believes the recent media coverage on equine welfare, has placed focus on the need to make all owners responsible for the ongoing care of thoroughbreds, beyond their racing life
"The most upsetting thing is not that unsuitable horses for retraining are put down but the manner in which responsibility for those horses has been dismissed," he said.
"Owners and syndicate managers of racehorses own the responsibility to either retrain, retire to a paddock or euthanise. NSW banning euthanising racehorses just pushes the problem elsewhere and what was most abhorrent in the ABC report was the manner in which those poor animals were treated at the end.
"Racehorse ownership comes with responsibility and sometimes that means making difficult decisions rather than washing your hands of them. The responsibility of care remains until the horse is asleep and that’s the point that needs reinforcing."
