When it comes to taking strong form into the Melbourne Cup, Terry Henderson has every reason to be approaching the race with a positive perspective as he has two last-start winners representing OTI on Tuesday.
Henderson’s OTI syndicate group will have last-start Bendigo Cup winner Sea King and ATC St Leger winner Athabascan in the Cup.
OTI is the only syndicate group with two runners. Local owner Ozzie Kheir’s ownership groups will be represented by four runners.
“There are only five last-start winners going into the race and we have two of them. They are both in form and have light weights. There’s a lot of pluses for them,” Henderson said.
Henderson has experienced the highs of winning a Melbourne Cup when a part-owner of the 1995 Melbourne Cup winner Doriemus.
Since he formed OTI in 1999, he has pursued the race and went down a whisker when Bauer was defeated by Viewed in a photo in 2008.
Finding Melbourne Cup candidates is an annual global pursuit for Henderson and OTI and his two starters are examples of this.
Henderson bought into Athabascan when he was a three-year-old in France and raced him with his breeders Haras d’Etreham where he was trained by Andre Fabre.
“When he came out to Australia we bought them out,” Henderson said.
He then sent Athabascan to be trained in Sydney with John O’Shea.
The first feature on #TABEverest day goes to Athabascan who wins the G3 St Leger Stakes in a thriller for @JohnOSheaRacing and @TommyBerry21 🙌@aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/pbsmvFAJVt
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 19, 2024
Athabascan wins the G3 ATC St Leger last start.
Sea King was purchased by Henderson only eight weeks ago in England.
Henderson said selling shares in potential Melbourne Cup runners was a key component of his business.
“Many of them join OTI to get that good staying horse. There’s a range of owners, from bigger guys to owners having two and a half percent who are all chasing the dream,” he said.
UK visitor Sea King destroys his rivals in the Bendigo Cup 👑
— Racing.com (@Racing) October 30, 2024
Congratulations to @H_Eustace & @decbates 🤝 pic.twitter.com/d5ycejS9FO
Sea King wins the G3 Bendigo Cup last start.
Henderson said he can still sell the romance of having a Melbourne Cup runner to potential owners, but he senses there is a change in the way the race is viewed in the community.
“The romance of it is still there, but it’s not as pervasive in the community as it once was, that’s very clear. I think we can do a lot of work to improve it and I think we’ve got some people coming through the industry that have got the right sort of attitude to do this.”
“I think we need to do a few more things to up the social acceptance of racing, let alone the Cup, and you know, the Cup will be the beneficiary of that.”
The above is an excerpt from Michael Manley’s Racing.com article and can be read here.