Americain Could Become A Fulltime Aussie

The owners of Americain could cause a shock and elect to keep the 2010 Melbourne Cup champion racing in Australia.

The word around at the moment is that Americain will not return back to France and will instead stay on our shores in preparation for an autumn campaign in Sydney and Melbourne.

Should he keep up his current level of form it would then be almost inevitable that he remained for the spring racing carnival and the 2012 Melbourne Cup as well.

Americain ran the most gallant of races at Flemington yesterday when on the turn he was entitled to simply pack it in.

He was last off the bend and the widest runner in the field before flying home down the outside.

He rattled off the fastest final sectionals with ease yet it he was simply too far off the leaders and missed out on third in a photo.

Americain is owned by Australian interest Colleen & Kevin Bamford as well as Gerry and Val Ryan.

They are keen to keep him racing in Australia where he seems to lift to a whole new level.

While disappointed they didn’t make it back to back Melbourne Cups the team could feel no sense of failure after the horse battled on the way he did.

“I think he was the best horse,” handler Stephanie Nigge said.

“For us it is like he won.”

Were he to stay in Australia it would be a massive win for the racing clubs given the huge following he’s built up here.

In other news to come out of the Melbourne Cup disappointing leading pick Jukebox Jury was found to be lame in his leg.

A vet spent more than two horses with him today and said while there is no swelling there is definitely an issue there.

“The vet did a nerve block around the knee and he was sound afterwards, so it seems that’s where the problem is,” Bamford said.

The injury is not expected to be career threatening however plans to travel to Hong Kong now appear to be off the table.

About The Author