With the Geelong Cup aka The Gateway to Glory as it is affectionately known to many – due to it’s history of being one of the most reliable precursor guides to the result of the Melbourne Cup – less than 24 hours away we have decided to do a round up of all the miRunners trainers and their days input.
Run at Geelong Racecourse over 2400m the open handicap offers prize money of $300,000 and runs the Wednesday after Caulfield Cup Day, around a fortnight before Melbourne Cup Day, and has done so since 1947.
First held back in 1872 when Flying Scud saluted, the Geelong Cup has been run over a host of different distances including originally over the same two miles (3200m) as the Melbourne Cup. It has held Group 3 status since 2002 and notable Geelong Cup winners in recent years include Media Puzzle (2002), Americain (2010) and Dunaden (2011) who all went on to win the ‘race that stops a nation’ saluting in that year’s Melbourne Cup.
miRunners trainer Gai Waterhouse, alongside co-trainer Adrian Bott, will be taking on a largely international field tomorrow in the Geelong Cup training two out of only three horses with Australian heritage, in Runaway & Northwest Passage.
Who is Adrian Bott? After graduating from the Darley Flying Start in 2012 after a slight diversion at university, the ambitious Adrian found himself a position as Assistant Racing Manager at Tulloch Lodge, which was undoubtedly aided by Gai’s association with the Bott family, which goes back several decades.
After a few years as Assistant Racing Manager, Gai saw immense potential in Adrian and appointed him as Racing Manager in 2013. His time as Assistant Racing Manager proved invaluable: learning about every aspect of the business gave him the strong foundation he needed to take on the responsibility of his future position.
“To be given the opportunity to train in partnership, with someone so successful, is something for which I will be forever grateful for. Her work ethic is like no one else I have ever known, which inspires you to throw everything in to what you are doing,” explained Adrian.
As a co-trainer with Gai Waterhouse, the pair clicked immediately. At only 29, it took just six days after the partnership was formed for Adrian and Gai to record their first winner in the stakes company when Thronum won the ATC Rosebud-LR. Within a matter of weeks they achieved two Group 1 successes with the Star Witness filly, Global Glamour.
And what a success the pair have been. Combined, Gai and Adrian have won over $240M in career prize money and in more than 37,000 starts, the pair have a win rate of 20% and a place rate of 46%. Finally, if that wasn’t enough, there are 134 Group 1 wins amongst Gai & Adrian’s win total of 3,761.
miRunners trainer Mick Price, has 3 horses running on Geelong Cup day with Princess of Queens, Teleplay and Mastering, and fellow miRunners trainer / 2x Geelong Cup winner David Hayes will have 5 horses running on the day in Our Sea Goddess, Guangzhou, Ripper Rio, Seberate, Creedence. Best of luck to all.
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