Racing: Protectionist could provide correct result

The Italian has a good Melbourne Cup record, having taken third with Jackelberry and fifth with Dandino. Photo / Thinkstock

Andreas Wohler says it was the German correctness in him that forced him into training racehorses.

The trainer of Melbourne Cup third favourite Protectionist was studying at university as a 24-year-old when his father Adolf died suddenly.

"I felt obligated to leave university and take over my father's stable," he says.

It was a wise decision. Wohler is now regarded as one of the world's finest at his craft, a rating that will increase substantially if Cox Plate-winning jockey Ryan Moore can win the Melbourne Cup for him.

Wohler had early success with Lomitas, who went on to sire the next best two he trained in Silvano and Belenus, Silvano arriving in Australian in 2000, attempting what Protectionist will aim for tomorrow.

The trainer is no stranger to successfully travelling horses, a large part of what is necessary to win a Melbourne Cup from the other side of the world.

He became the first German trainer to win a grade one race in the United States when Silvano took the Arlington Million.

Wohler was a fan of Ryan Moore long before he won this year's Cox Plate. "He has the perfect temperament for a top jockey. You don't have to tell him much and he takes everything in his stride. That's a big thing in a race like the Melbourne Cup."

Italian born English trainer Marco Botti looked the most nervous of the trainers asked to hold the baby crocodile the Victoria Racing Club had brought to Werribee yesterday morning, along with a wombat and a baby python.

The croc was only as long as your arm, but Botti's eyes flew open when the handler said it was big enough to crush a human finger if anyone was silly enough to put their hand in the wrong place.

Botti was much happier talking about his Melbourne Cup runner Seismos.

The Italian has a good Melbourne Cup record, having taken third with Jackelberry and fifth with Dandino.

Seismos finished only 15th in the Caulfield Cup, but Botti says he knew the race would be too sharp for him and that with luck on his side a better effort will be forthcoming.

"He was only five lengths from the Caulfield Cup winner and has a good turn of foot when he gets the right run. He's at something like $40 and I don't believe he deserves to be an outsider - he is a better chance than that.

"Craig Newitt knows the horse better now after the Caulfield Cup and that will also help."