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Godolphin's head trainer Saeed bin Suroor has vowed to keep returning to Australia in quest of the Melbourne Cup after another frustrating result at Flemington on Tuesday.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Crime Scene's gallant second to Shocking on Tuesday is the third time a Godolphin-trained stayer has finished second in the Melbourne Cup since 1998.
“We will keep coming back until we win it,” Saeed said.
“Maybe we will bring more horses next time in case one breaks down.”
Crime Scene arrived this year as the second stringer to Kirklees who was the favoured runner after finishing seventh in the Caulfield Cup.
However Kirklees did not accept for the Melbourne Cup after Saeed was disappointed with his appearance after her arrived in Melbourne last Friday.
Saeed hinted that Kirklees may well have won the Melbourne Cup if the trainer had given the OK for him to start.
“Kirklees is a much better horse than Crime Scene,” he said.
Crime Scene, only fifth in the Geelong Cup at his first Australian start, exceeded most expectations with his second in the Melbourne Cup.
Crime Scene and the other four international runners in the Melbourne Cup came through the race relatively unscathed and were in good shape when inspected at Sandown this morning.
South African trainer Herman Brown was delighted with the performance of third placegetter Mourilyan because the race was not run to suit the horse.
“It turned into a 800 metre sprint and he has to be ridden quietly so I was thrilled with the way he finished it off,” he said.
Munsef, who finished 12th, has a superficial wound on a hind leg but trainer Ian Williams said it was nothing serious.
Munsef is likely to run in the $351,000 Sandown Classic (2400m) at Betfair Park on on Saturday week.
Williams said he was far from disappointed with the eight-year-old's effort considering the trouble he ran into over the last 800 metres.
“It would have been better if he had finished in the first 10 and earned some prize money, but 12th in a Melbourne Cup when he was only about six lengths from the winner was a good effort as far as I am concerned,” he said.
It was Williams' first runner in the Cup and he said he would love to come back again if he can find the right horse to make the trip down under.
Warringah, who finished last after leading, will leave Sandown in the next 24 hours for a short spell before he goes to trainer Chris Waller's Sydney stable to be prepared for the autumn carnival.
Charlie Henson, assistant trainer for the Luca Cumani stable, also said the way the race was run did nothing to help the chances of Basaltico, who finished 18th.
“He needs genuine pace on all the way to show his best and although I know the Cup can be a stop/start race they were only hacking along when they went past the post the first time,” Henson said.
Basaltico, who is now 50 percent owned by Australian connections, may remain here instead of returning to Cumani's stable in the UK.