Who is Gai Waterhouse?
Australian racing royalty. The daughter of former champion horse trainer Tommy Smith, Waterhouse is a champion trainer in her own right with more than 100 Group One wins. But she had never won a Melbourne Cup until Tuesday – having channelled her energies mainly towards two-year-old and sprint racing until a few years ago. Then her quest to win a Cup got more serious. She has finally struck success with Fiorente, a horse bought in England specifically to target the Cup. The 58-year-old first lady of Australian racing had been an actress on both stage and television before taking over the training reins from her father in the mid-1990s following a protracted battle to win her trainer’s licence. That battle with officialdom was in large part because she was married to Robbie Waterhouse, part of the Waterhouse bookmaking dynasty and warned off racing at the time because of his alleged involvement in the Fine Cotton racing ring-in scandal
Who is Damien Oliver?
Now a three-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey and one of Australia’s finest. Oliver comes from a racing family which has had a tragic history. His father Ray was killed in a race fall in their native Western Australia, as was Damien’s brother Jason. The 41-year-old had previously won the Cup on Doriemus (1995) and Media Puzzle (2002) – the latter win coming soon after brother Jason’s death. He has also won four Caulfield Cups, two Cox Plates and a Golden Slipper. Oliver’s latest Cup win comes after a tumultuous year, in which he was banned for 10 months for placing a sizeable bet on a rival horse in a race he was riding in.
Who is Fiorente?
A six-year-old Irish bred stallion bought by Gai Waterhouse’s stable to target the Melbourne Cup. The horse came straight from quarantine to run second in last year’s Cup to Green Moon. After a solid preparation, including a luckless third in the Cox Plate last month, Fiorente has become the first horse in 13 years to win a Melbourne Cup after running previously and failing to win.