Nearly half of Melbourne Cup field have Kiwi connections

Michael Guerin

Racing Editor·NZ Herald·

3 Nov, 2025 04:00 PM2 mins to read

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Smokin Romans is one of the New Zealand-bred horses in today’s Melbourne Cup.

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While New Zealand won’t be adding to our proud Melbourne Cup record with a Kiwi-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup today, there are still plenty of New Zealanders with winning chances.

Expat trainer Chris Waller, who is now based in Sydney, trains five of the 24 starters – Buckaroo,
Land Legend, More Felons, River Of Stars and Valiant King – with River Of Stars heavily backed to win the race by big punters yesterday.

Another former New Zealand trainer, Bjorn Baker, trains 40-1 chance Arapaho.

Kiwi superstar jockey James McDonald will ride Meydaan after having ridden the winners of over A$16 million ($18.3m) worth of races in the last 10 days, while former Hawkes Bay jockey Mick Dee, who is now based in Melbourne, rides Furthur.

Smokin Romans and Torranzino were both bred in New Zealand, while Athabascan was bred in France but is by the stallion Almanzor, who now stands at Cambridge Stud.