By Justin Robertson
FOR iconic Dandenong businessman Gerry Ryan, it was a plan that took five years to execute.
His plot, sewn together with co-owner Kevin Bamford, has just exceeded all expectations on racing’s biggest day.
When international stallion Americain made its run down the straight passing Melbourne Cup favourite So You Think for a dream ride, horse owner and Jayco boss, Gerry Ryan and partner Kevin Bamford would have been pinching themselves to make sure it wasn’t an illusion.
Ryan said to Channel 7 reporter Peter Donegan after the race, “It’s been a dream for Kevin and I. Five years ago at the Carbine Club dinner, we said, “Let’s try and find a Melbourne Cup runner” – let alone a winner.”
With 200 metres to go, So You Think took the lead momentarily before Americain bolted to the front and edged out New Zealand-bred horse Maluckyday to win by two and half lengths in the historic 150th running of the race that stops a nation.
I was very relaxed (during the race), because it was out of my control, and Gerald Mosse, the jockey, said to me “we will win this”,” said Ryan, who collected the pool of $3.6million on behalf of team Americain. “This is what you dream of ever since you’re a kid.”
After a failed American campaign by the horse late last year, Ryan and mate Bamford bought Americain and sent him back to France to plot a course and hatch a plan to prepare him as a Melbourne Cup runner.
Long-term member of the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce and board member of Semma, James Sturgess, said he was rapt for Ryan and his extraordinary Cup win.
“I am absolutely delighted for him and the win,” he said. “For those who think he is a Johnny-come-lately who just bought a horse in France, let me tell you he’s not and has truly deserved the win.”
Sturgess said he wouldn’t be surprised if more than half of the Dandenong business community backed Americain to win.
“He has a lot of supporters here in Dandenong,” he said. “ I know that a lot of us here backed it to win and this morning when some of the workers were coming in they said ‘How good was the race’.”
The six-year-old horse – which Ryan and Bamford bought for $US225,000 – won the Geelong Cup and a group two race in France. Ryan said the trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre was confident it could run a strong race in the Cup.
The horse has a plethora of international ties: It was bred in the United States, is French trained, ridden by a Hong Kong-based French jockey and owned by Australians. It was one of eight international runners who contested the Melbourne Cup – five of them finishing inside the top 10.
More than 200 workers at Ryan’s-owned Jayco, which is also the main sponsor of the Dandenong Basketball Association and naming rights sponsor of the Dandenong Rangers WNBL side, backed the international stallion to win.
On Tuesday night, the pair ignored the usual upmarket celebrations at Crown, heading instead to the Middle Park Hotel, which Ryan part owns, along with their French connection de Royer-Dupre and Mosse.
