by Shayne Driscoll
When reflecting on the Geelong Cup, the thought that immediately sprang to mind for me was not a particular edition of the great race, but of the historical significance the race holds for OTI and its imported stayers.
When I started with OTI in 2004, the Geelong Cup had become a major lead up race to the Melbourne Cup. On the strength of the race, the winner would usually receive a penalty of significance that would elevate them into the Melb Cup field, and the spacing between the races was considered perfect for horses working in quarantine. Like many around the country, in 2002 I’d watched Damien Oliver and Media Puzzle storm to victory at Geelong and, with 2kg penalty in hand, they reunited 13 days later for their emotional Melbourne Cup win at Flemington.
In both 2006 and 2007, OTI would send its Chilean import Cefalu to Geelong seeking a win and a penalty to catapult that horse into the Melbourne Cup field. On both occasions, he fell just short of those goals, finishing 5th and 4th respectively. In 2008 however, a little grey champ by the name of Bauer would head to Geelong and complete his set task, launching from just behind the speed and holding his opposition at bay over the concluding 200m. It was almost a quinella for OTI, with another UK import named Magic Instinct nosed out of 2nd place into 3rd. Bauer, as history tells us, would go onto the Melbourne Cup and finish 2nd to Viewed in a head-bobber (despite his official time recorded as .01 seconds faster than Viewed).
Bauer would amazingly return to Geelong three years later, in 2011, again using the Geelong Cup as a preparatory race for the Melbourne Cup. Held up at a vital stage, he flew late into 3rd position behind Dunaden and was the hard luck story. Dunaden would go onto win the Melbourne Cup while Bauer would ultimately miss the race, balloted out of the field. The Geelong Cup penalty that year was oh so vital.
In 2012 and 2013, OTI would again raise the Cup in triumph, first with Gatewood and then with Ibicenco. In Gatewood’s edition, just 7 starters greeted the judge and the race was run at a farcical tempo. Gatewood would win nicely, but such was the speed of the race that handicappers reduced his penalty for winning the race and, like Bauer 12 months before him, Gatewood would not gain sufficient weight to gain a start in the Melbourne Cup.
Ibicenco’s win in 2013 was a strong one. Holding off Verdant, there were big gaps to the remainder of the field and we would go to the Melbourne Cup with confidence. Unfortunately, it was Fiorente’s Cup and Ibicenco would finish in the second half of the field.
While unable to repeat our success since, OTI can feel a little hard done by with recent results. Grey Lion (2016 – 0.2 lengths 2nd), Gallic Chieftain (2017 – 0.1 lengths 2nd), True Self (2019 – 0.2 lengths 2nd) and Amade (2021 – 4th by 4l after missing the start by 10l) have all been extremely unlucky to have not added the Geelong Cup to their respective trophy cabinets.
The Matthew Smith-trained Attorney will be our representative in 2022, and he too needs a win and possibly a penalty to sneak into the Melbourne Cup on that first Tuesday in November. May this great race long be a piece of the Melbourne Cup puzzle.