Ed Dunlop has trained two champions but admits he has never had a horse quite like Red Cadeaux.
Snow Fairy and Ouija Board won multiple Group One races in Europe and are at the top of the tree when it comes to results.
Red Cadeaux
Red Cadeaux has a lone Group One on his record, the 2012 Hong Kong Vase, although his three Melbourne Cup seconds have helped him become Britain’s highest earning racehorse.
But it is his personality and constitution which endears him to Australians – and his trainer.
Having made four trips to Australia in the spring, Red Cadeaux will make his first racetrack appearance in Sydney on Saturday, but not in the race most expected.
Dunlop and owner Ronald Arculli decided earlier in the week to run Red Cadeaux in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick in preference to the Sydney Cup.
The recent wet weather prompted the change, with the consensus being that the 3200 metres of the Sydney Cup might be too taxing on a wet track.
“We came to the conclusion that two miles on a soft track might be hard on him,” Dunlop said.
Dunlop’s travelling foreman Robin Trevor-Jones and track rider Steve Nicholson have been with Red Cadeaux since he arrived in mid-February while Dunlop touched down in Sydney on Thursday morning.
“I went to see him as soon as I got here and he is bright and happy and looks well,” Dunlop said.
“He loves travelling and the individual attention he gets.
“I’ve also been to Randwick to look at the track and it’s drying out and hopefully it is just right by Saturday.”
Among Red Cadeaux’s opposition is the horse Dunlop thought would be his heir apparent and perhaps his Melbourne Cup winner.
“We had Contributer in the stable and I thought he would be a Melbourne Cup horse but he was sold to Sheikh Mohammed and now we are racing against him,” Dunlop said.
“That’s the way it goes.
“The amount of money that is on offer for our stayers to race in Australia is too much to turn down.”
Contributer is the $3.40 favourite for the Queen Elizabeth ahead of Japanese visitor To The World at $4 and Cox Plate winner Adelaide at $6.
Red Cadeaux is a $35 chance to cause an upset but Dunlop just hopes he runs a good race and comes through it safely.
“I’ve had Snow Fairy and Ouija Board who were champions,” Dunlop said.
“Red Cadeaux is also a champion in a different sense.
“Would I trade three Melbourne Cup seconds for three wins? Of course I would.
“But is there another horse like Red Cadeaux? Of course there’s not.”
