Inside Arapaho’s incredible rise from distant last in Tamworth Cup to the Melbourne Cup
Meet the horse that has taken the long road to the Melbourne Cup.
The legendary Bart Cummings was adamant his horses needed at least 10,000 metres of racing before arriving at Flemington for the first Tuesday in November.
Well, Sydney warhorse Arapaho will head into the big race having run nearly three times that distance since kicking off his current campaign on April 1.
Trainer Bjorn Baker, who is well aware of Cummings’ famous edict, quipped: “I’m tripling down on Bart’s theory.”
Arapaho came to Baker’s Warwick Farm stables at the start of the year with the goal of winning just one Saturday race. He has since had 14 starts up and down the east coast, amassing 28,550m in racing for $540,500 in prizemoney.
Arapaho’s second-up run was the Tamworth Cup where he finished last, barely beating home the ambulance when more than 14 lengths adrift of the winner.
Dylan Gibbons pilots Arapaho to victory at Rosehill in May.Credit:Mark Evans, Getty Images
“I actually thought he was a chance that day but he struck a rock-hard track,” Baker said. “Had you asked me then if he would run in a Melbourne Cup, I would have given you odds of 10,000-1. He’s a sound horse, but one that has been up forever.
“We don’t do a lot with him. We tend to give him a really easy time between runs. His biggest win [to start] was a benchmark 78 at Rosehill. It might have been [apprentice] Dylan Gibbons’ first city winner.
“He’s a French horse who doesn’t carry much condition, but he looks better now than he has at any other time this preparation. The aim was to win a Saturday race with him. He’s a friendly horse who loves the stable environment and the team.
“It’s been a great ride for the owners. He wasn’t an expensive horse, but we’ve already got back what we paid for him, well and truly.”
Arapaho resumed with a third in the Muswellbrook Cup, flopped at Tamworth, then ran fourth at Hawkesbury at big odds.
He went on to win the Grafton Cup, Premier’s Cup at Rosehill, ran second in the Caloundra Cup on the Sunshine Coast, and caught the eye with a last-start second in the St Leger at Randwick, behind fellow Cup-bound runner Stockman.
The Cup dream only started to become a reality after his win in the Premier’s Cup.
Jockey Rachel King will partner the six-year-old after steering him in his past four starts.
Few will give Arapaho a chance – bookies have rated him at $51 in early markets – but there will be no questions about his fitness levels. And the six-year-old does not mind a soft track.
“He’s got form around [Caulfield Cup winner] Durston, we go there thinking he’s top-10 hope, he’s consistent, he’s got no weight, and you need to be in it to win it,” Baker said.
As for what happens beyond Tuesday with Arapaho, Baker said: “We’ll send him for a spell, a well-deserved break. Probably.”
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