Bamford Packs Imposing Melbourne Cup Double

Americain

Defending Melbourne Cup champion Americain

Colleen Bamford is in an envious position going into the 2011 Melbourne Cup, she’s the part owner of both defending champion Americain and the well fancied Jukebox Jury.

It’s a dream for many to have one runner in the Melbourne Cup, let alone two winning chances, especially when she’s already claimed the title in 2010.

Her journey over the last couple of years has been nothing short of incredible, especially with Americain given he was purchased with average form at best.

After that he went on a dominant streak of wins back in France before making history in the race that stops a nation.

“Last year it just kept getting better every time he raced,” Bamford said.

“You just had to keep pinching yourself saying is this real.

“Here we are 12 months later doing it all again.”

The leading to the 2011 Melbourne Cup campaign has been slightly different though, rather than dominating back in France he was very much a passenger in many of his races.

He also went through the Moonee Valley Cup as opposed to the Geelong Cup, although the result there was no different.

“I think the beauty with him is he came here a bit earlier…he’s back with the people that he loves,” she said.

After that Moonee Valley triumph Americain goes straight into the Melbourne Cup where he will start as favourite.

Bamford says she’s super confident in the horses ability but has concerns over a couple of areas.

“There’s two worries, the track and the weight,” she said.

“Watching the weather forecasts I think the track will be good though.

“58kg at the end of two miles, that’s a big weight.”

If things were to go wrong for Americain though she has a pretty handy backup in the form of Jukebox Jury.

He hasn’t had a start in Australia and will be first up into the Melbourne Cup.

“He was a very fit horse when he came here…they haven’t had to do much to just top him up,” she said.

She said the versatility of the horse is his big attribute.

“A lot of people think he can only lead but he can come from behind to,” she said.

As for who she’ll be following when the barriers open on the first Tuesday in November, that’s something she won’t give away.

“I hope that there close together in the race because I won’t know which one to look at,” she said.

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