The Man Who Won by a Pixel

This year’s high-profile Melbourne Cup horse race ended up being the closest in the event’s 151-year history.

When organisers of the high-profile Melbourne Cup horse race rode in to Mumbai on a promotional visit, they brought along last year’s champion jockey Christophe Lemaire. The Frenchman, riding Dunaden, won in dramatic fashion. His participation in the race was confirmed less than 24 hours before. And the 3.2 km contest ended up being the closest in the event’s 151-year history, with Dunaden winning not by a nose but a mere pixel.

“[Dunaden’s] got a strong character,” Lemaire said affectionately. “He’s not a horse who’ll win by three or four lengths. But he’ll do his job.” Lemaire, 33, says jockeys cannot afford to get emotional about horses. But sometimes they do. “The horses you win big races with… they will die for the jockey, for the race. Such horses do touch you [emotionally].” In 2002-03, Lemaire was an aspiring jockey in search of assignments. He spent that season in India. “I was based in Mumbai but also competed in Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.  It was a big experience for me.”

Lemaire says racing is a major sport in France. “It’s the biggest nation in Europe for racing. England has the big owners and everything, but the prize money is going down.” The win in the Melbourne Cup netted Lemaire a minimum of AUS $180,000, 5 per cent of the purse that goes to the team behind the winning horse (the owner of the horse gets the biggest chunk—85 per cent) Lemaire rewarded himself by buying a Maserati GranTurismo. And the horse? He doesn’t quite know. “Maybe a big bowl of water and some carrots.

About The Author

Akshay Sawai