Ride the 2012 Melbourne Cup winner with Darren Beadman
Two time Melbourne Cup winning jockey Darren Beadman has provided the Racenet audience with an exclusive armchair ride on the horse he thinks can win the 2012 Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.
The decorated rider, who recently announced his retirement, nominated the Hawkes Racing-trained Maluckyday as the horse he'd love to be aboard in Tuesday's $6 million handicap.
"There's a lot of strength in the race this year but if you look at the profile of Maluckyday I think Hawkesy is going to be hard to beat," Beadman said.
"I love his program. How it's been orchestrating tells me the horse will be primed for the event.
"He's had that couple of years off, now he's that little bit more mature and being a Zabeel, there are plenty of positives for him.
"I think his last two runs have been exceptional."
Beadman broke the 3200 metre race into four parts and gave his insight into how he would ride Maluckyday if he was the man aboard the Zabeel gelding on Tuesday.
Let's take a ride aboard Maluckyday in the 2012 Melbourne Cup.
Start to the turn out of the straight the first time
He was a bit fractious away at Geelong so you've got to be mindful of that so it's important to get a nice clean getaway. I'm wanting to get the horse into his rhythm in the first 200 metres, get his action going good and his breathing and I'm trying to make sure he doesn't get crowded up. He looks to me like a horse that enjoys a little bit of galloping room so I'd be looking to be midfield, out three and four deep getting to the furlong which generally gives you a good chance to work your way in and get cover. The last couple of Melbourne Cups have shown they can sit three wide with cover and win so I'd like to be midfield.
Out of the straight the first time to the 1400 metres where they start to swing
Now I'm starting to look for the horses that I think are the chances. Americain with Damien Oliver is one. You'd love to be on the back of him or the good two mile riders on the good stayers that are going to give you a nice cart into the race. If they are going slow there might be some midrace moves but most of these races are run at a nice tempo. By the 1800 metre mark most of the field have found their spots and the race has settled into a pattern. Now I've put him to sleep and have the horse using no excessive energy. The more worrying you do, the more it affects your horse because you are not giving him a smooth rhythm so it's a matter of being calm and give your horse a cruisy ride.
The 1400 metres to the home turn
From here to the home turn the track isn't straight, it's circular so you don't want to be working your horse. Hopefully you've laid the platform in the early part of the race with the decisions you've made to find the right horse and the right jockey to follow as we get closer to the home turn. You not only have to find the right horse and jockey but also know what other horses are around and where the chances are. Your mind is now running at a pretty rapid rate to see what the landscape of the race is. How they are travelling, where they're positioned, who's in front of them so there's a lot to weigh up. The most important thing is to have your horse on the bit in the sense that you can feel he's got another two or three gears left in him to be able to pick up if the chance to get onto the right horse or a run comes that you want to take. The other thing you are considering is how fast they've gone through the middle part of the race, the middle 1200 metres. That will determine what's going to happen on the home turn. Will horses start to drop back in your lap, will the field string out, do they bunch so you have a few things going through your mind.
The home turn to the winning post
This is where you start to rev the engine, start to really get serious. You can't take liberty of your movements at this point of the race because it can come back to bite you. This goes back to about the 800 metre mark but it's all about momentum now. You want to keep the horse in his rhythm. It's very hard for a horse to have a stop start passage and then quicken up and finish off at the end of two miles because losing a length is like losing three in a Melbourne Cup. It's all about momentum, getting the horse in his full stride knowing that there's a 400 metre plus run in the straight. The little bit that you can reserve without setting them alight when you straighten can mean the difference between first and second. You have to feel underneath you there's still a gear left if needed. The later you can use it the bigger asset it is to you. Craig Williams's ride on Dunaden in the Caulfield Cup was a great example of how important momentum is in a long handicap. When they quickened, about 600 from home, he was able to come away from the fence and find the back of Americain and Alcopop while keeping the horse's gallop flowing the whole time. He was then positioned to hedge his bets which horse would take him into the race and Alcopop did the perfect job for him. Every move he made, 800 metres from home to the line, kept his horse going in a forward fashion. That's what you want to be doing over the last quarter of the Melbourne Cup and if you get it right and the horse does the job there's no better feeling for a jockey.
Story: Clinton Payne RaceNet