Cross Counter's win ended a decade-long drought for Sheik Mohammed's Godolphin.GETTY IMAGES
Godolphin Owner and Dubai Ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has spent A$1.2B ($870M) on the stable's Australian operations over the last decade, a period that had brought zero Melbourne Cup wins until Cross Counter's win on Tuesday, according to John Stensholt of THE AUSTRALIAN. The A$4M ($2.9M) winning prize "will barely make a dent in what the sheik has invested in Australia though," which started with the A$500M he "shelled out" in '08 to buy the local racing business of the Ingham brothers. Godolphin Australia has accumulated losses of almost A$700M ($505M) under its owner in the past decade. The company’s annual report for the year to Dec. 31 shows it owing its owners and related entities more than A$1.15B ($830M). Money "finally bought success" in this year's Melbourne Cup though, and winning trainer Charlie Appleby, usually based at Newmarket in the U.K., "made clear who needed to be thanked the most after the race." Appleby: "This is all down to Sheik Mohammed. He’s the one that’s given us all the encouragement to take the chances in what we do internationally" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 11/7).
RECORD NUMBERS: The NEW ZEALAND HERALD reported Kiwi punters equaled the record NZ$10.6M ($7.07M) in bets wagered in a day in New Zealand. The New Zealand Racing Board said that there were a record 1.7 million bets on the Melbourne Cup, including 2,529 on Cross Counter. The board said in a statement, "At our peak 38,000 customers were on the TAB digital channels. There were 2133 online bets placed per minute." Turnover for the day -- the biggest for the year -- was equal to the event's record turnover set in '15 (NZ HERALD, 11/6).
