Racing Victoria senior int'l recruiter Leigh Jordon said that the improving standard of the Melbourne Cup field and increasing costs "will result in fewer horses making the trek from Europe, Asia and America for the spring carnival," according to Patrick Bartley of THE AGE. Jordon said that "there is little point coming to Australia with a horse that is unqualified." Jordan: "The race's international standing has just gained so much momentum that people will now understand that to win it you will need a high-class racehorse, so with such a vast outlay of capital, in most cases nearly A$200,000 ($190,000) in expenses, some owners will be thinking twice." Soon after racehorse Owner Gai Waterhouse collected her first Melbourne Cup with Fiorente, she said that "racing clubs in Australia must begin to program races that would complement and encourage the training of stayers." She said that programming for "middle-order" stayers was non-existent and needed to be reviewed (THE AGE, 11/7). In Melbourne, Michael Lynch wrote Waterhouse might have struck a blow for the home side by sending out Fiorente, "but like so many who make good in Australia, the son of German stallion Monsun has distinctly European antecedents." While the six-year-old goes down as a local winner, "he was the only thing Australia could really crow about after a Cup that again illustrated the dominance of European stayers in Australia's great long-distance races." There "was little succour for the Australian industry beyond the winner." The second, Red Cadeaux, the third, Mount Athos, fourth Simenon and fifth Dandino, "are all trained in England or Ireland" (THE AGE, 11/6).
