Cup Day Run Brings Tears Of Joy For Mcgrath
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday November 9, 2007
IT IS is a long way from the Warrnambool carnival in May to the Melbourne Cup carnival, particularly for a maiden, but underrated galloper Tears I Cry has managed it this year.
From a 10th placing in a maiden six months ago, he has gone on to provide his breeder and part-owner Anne McGrath with one of her proudest moments as he took his place in the last race at Flemington on cup day and finished fourth carrying the top weight. McGrath is now hopeful that the five-year-old will sneak into the field for the Emirates Stakes on Saturday to provide her with a first group 1 runner, but she is happy no matter what happens. "It's a fairytale just having a horse run on cup day," she said. "I'm not used to all the dressing up. It's all been a bit overwhelming."Tears I Cry's record now stands at 13 starts for five wins, including a group 2 placing at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day, and he has only failed to earn a cheque once. Two years ago McGrath attracted nationwide attention at the Warrnambool carnival when, in her long-standing role as clerk of the course, she was trapped in front of the field when the gates opened prematurely. McGrath grew up on her parents' Leo and Maureen Dwyer's dairy farm near Warrnambool surrounded by horses. Leo was a keen thoroughbred breeder, so it was no surprise that she shared his passion. Dwyer owns Tears I Cry's dam Cassazione and is listed as the breeder by the stud book, but McGrath borrowed the mare to use on a free return to stallion Lacryma Cristi. Dwyer had no intention of buying Cassazione at an Inglis sale in 1998, but when she came into the ring and wasn't making much money, he threw in a few bids and took her home for $4000. She is by former successful stallion Salieri from 1990 VRC Oaks winner Weekend Delight. Her only success came in a maiden race over 2100 metres at Pinjarra in Western Australia, before breaking down as a three-year- old. McGrath, who attended the sale with her father, well recalls the trip back to Warrnambool after the purchase. "I thought he was crazy buying her, but all the way home I got the story of how well bred she was," she said. Cassazione's first foal was by Indentation, a son of Biscay, that Dwyer stood alongside the cows. He injured a hip and didn't race, and a filly by Lacryma Cristi the next year also failed to make it to the racetrack due to injury. She then had a year off and would have had another had McGrath not needed a mare to use for a free return to Lacryma Cristi and her father was happy to oblige. Whether Tears I Cry can handle the step up in grade on Saturday remains a query.But such is the horse's honesty, that with no weight on his back there is every chance he will be around the money.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald
