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MELBOURNE - The Australian racing industry was still reeling yesterday morning after the Japanese plundered the country's most famous sporting trophy.
Delta Blues beat stablemate Pop Rock by a half-head in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup with local Maybe Better leading the rest of the pack some 4 1/2 lengths behind.
Irishman Dermot Weld has trained the winners of two Melbourne Cups but stayed home this year believing he did not have the right horse.
Katsumi Yoshida, one of the people instrumental in the establishment of Japan's relatively young thoroughbred industry, knew he had two horses who would be competitive and the assault was planned with precision.
Coolmore sent its best stayer Yeats but he could only manage seventh while the best of the Europeans was fifth-placed Land 'N Stars.
Local racing identities paid tribute to the investment people like the Yoshida brothers had made in Japan and warned that the rest of the world would have to lift its game in the international racing arena.
"Good on them, they put so much money into their racing and breeding and I take my hat off to them," said Graeme Rogerson, trainer of fourth-placed Zipping.
Rogerson has yet to win a Melbourne Cup and will definitely be back next year. So will the Japanese.
David Hayes said it was a good that the Japanese were able to do so well but Australians should not panic about losing their competitiveness in the Cup.
"When Vintage Crop won so dominantly (in 1993) we thought the cup was going to go England for years but Yeats today didn't give a shot," Hayes said.
Hayes said that when he trained in Hong Kong he respected the Japanese for their ability to make successful raids in the international races.
"They have come here and competed well in the Caulfield Cup and they outstayed us in the Melbourne Cup," Hayes said.
"I have great respect for them but I'm not at all concerned about the Japanese dominating the race."
"The next group of Japanese might come and they mightn't win it."
But there were also some grizzles from the Aussies.
Owner Paul Makin, whose English import Glistening, finished 10th, said the Japanese runners and disappointing Irish raider Yeats were thrown in at the weights.
The handicapping was an absolute joke, he claimed.
"They are compressing the weights ... the Melbourne Cup being the sort of race it is, should be a genuine handicap."
If the race was a slap in the face for the Australians, New Zealand could take little consolation. Mandela ran ninth, Kerry O'Reilly 11th and Zabeat last.
- AAP
