Americain has won the 2010 Melbourne Cup, proving that experience at the distance trumps sheer natural talent.
The race started as so many other that day, as Gai Waterhouse’s prospected rocketed out from the gate. Descarado and Once Were Wild fought for the lead out in front, wasting energy at the wrong time. Descarado actually did not finish the race – a shocking result for the reigning Caulfield Cup winner.
Descarado began to fall back around the mid-way point, while Once Were Wild took his place and Harris Tweed moved up. This was not the point to make a move, however, which became apparent on the final turn.
Heading home, So You Think came forward, but maybe just a touch too early. This gave Maluckyday and Americain the opportunity to surge ahead in the last few hundred metres, with Americain leading dominantly by the time he reached the finish line. It was a Melbourne Cup finishing order that came as a surprise to many punters, as about 45% of bets were backing So You Think.
It was a great result for the mixing of Australian and international horse racing, and it would not be surprising if more French horses enter the Melbourne Cup in the years to come after this result.
The full 2010 Melbourne Cup results are:
2010 Melbourne Cup Results & Finishing Order
| Finish | No. | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Weight | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 8 | AMERICAIN(11) | Gerald Mosse | Alain de Royer Dupre | 54.5 | 3-26.87 |
| 2nd | 24 | MALUCKYDAY(5) | Luke Nolen | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 51.0 | 2.8L |
| 3rd | 3 | SO YOU THINK(2) | Steven Arnold | Bart Cummings | 56.0 | 3.3L |
| 4th | 4 | ZIPPING(15) | Nicholas Hall | Robert Hickmott | 55.5 | 5.0L |
| 5th | 12 | HARRIS TWEED(12) | Brad Rawiller | Murray & Bjorn Baker | 54.0 | 5.5L |
| 6th | 19 | HOLBERG(9) | Frankie Dettori | Saeed Bin Suroor | 53.5 | 6.3L |
| 7th | 13 | MANIGHAR(19) | Damien Oliver | Luca Cumani | 54.0 | 9.3L |
| 8th | 20 | PRECEDENCE(14) | James Winks | Bart Cummings | 53.5 | 9.4L |
| 9th | 5 | ILLUSTRIOUS BLUE(8) | Glen Boss | William J Knight | 55.0 | 10.9L |
| 10th | 6 | MR MEDICI(4) | Darren Beadman | Peter Ho | 55.0 | 12.1L |
| 11th | 23 | ONCE WERE WILD(10) | Jim Cassidy | Gai Waterhouse | 51.5 | 12.4L |
| 12th | 9 | TOKAI TRICK(3) | Shinji Fujita | Kenji Nonaka | 54.5 | 12.7L |
| 13th | 7 | SHOOT OUT(16) | Corey Brown | John Wallace | 55.0 | 13.5L |
| 14th | 15 | MONACO CONSUL(13) | Craig Williams | Michael Moroney | 54.0 | 15.2L |
| 15th | 14 | MASTER O’REILLY(17) | Vlad Duric | Danny O’Brien | 54.0 | 18.0L |
| 16th | 2 | CAMPANOLOGIST(18) | Kerrin McEvoy | Saeed Bin Suroor | 56.0 | 18.5L |
| 17th | 16 | PROFOUND BEAUTY(21) | Patrick Smullen | Dermot K Weld | 54.0 | 19.0L |
| 18th | 1 | SHOCKING(23) | Michael Rodd | Mark Kavanagh | 57.0 | 19.1L |
| 19th | 21 | RED RULER(7) | Mark Du Plessis | John Sargent | 53.5 | 20.1L |
| 20th | 10 | BUCCELLATI(20) | Steven King | Tony Noonan | 54.0 | 23.1L |
| 21st | 22 | LINTON(22) | Brett Prebble | Robert Hickmott | 52.0 | 35.1L |
| 22nd | 17 | ZAVITE(6) | Michael Walker | Anthony Cummings | 54.0 | 47.1L |
| FF | 11 | DESCARADO(1) | Nash Rawiller | Gai Waterhouse | 54.0 | |
| Src | 18 | BAUER | Chris Munce | Luca Cumani |
