Of all the great Caulfield Cups I’ve witnessed, can someone explain to me why the Cup won by Taufan’s Melody sticks in my head as my most memorable?
Why not Northerly beating Fields Of Omagh in 2002, champion mare Verry Elleegant in 2020 or Might and Power’s 7 length demolition job back in 2002? Or watching black and white footage of Tulloch destroying them 1957? Why isn’t it Shane Dye commencing his run on Veandercross from Platform 1 at Caulfield Station before being nailed by Olly on Mannerism on the line? Or when Roy Higgins won on protest on Big Philou from Sydney sider Nausori? It was Higgins’ only Caulfield Cup win and he wasn’t even first past the post. So why then do I remember this despised 66/1 outsider Taufan’s Melody with such clarity?
I suspect it was because it was a bit of a soap opera and it was very ‘us versus them’. ‘Them’ being the great unwashed from the Mother Country and ‘us’ being us.
Taufan’s Melody was an English racehorse. A useful one admittedly, but no star. He was trained by Ann Elizabeth Fitzalan-Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, better known as the 14th Lady Herries of Terregles but she was a mere mortal and therefore appeared in the racebook as Lady Herries. She was married to former English cricket captain Colin Cowdrey – later the Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge. I’ll keep Cowdrey out of it as he had been born on his family’s tea plantation in India. Taufan’s Melody was ridden by the Irishman Ray Cochrane who just a few years later was credited with saving Frankie Dettori’s life following a plane crash.
So, this is what happened. Taufan’s Melody led from about the mile or so and maintained an advantage, despite racing away from the fence, until straightening. There he was challenged by local mare Lisa’s Game who was trying to claim the much-coveted Cranbourne Cup/Caulfield Cup double for Tony Vasil. Taufan’s Melody dug deep but from the middle of the track began to roll back in an attempt to claim the fence for England. Under the little-known rules of Colonial Entitlement, Cochrane believed the rails were “British land”. He had little concern for the two Antipodean mares Jezabeel and Champagne who were minding their own business behind him and were subsequently poleaxed. Somewhat ironically those two mares ran the quinella in the Melbourne Cup just 17 days later.
Despite veering sideways and causing said interference, Taufan’s Melody went on to claim the 1998 Caulfield Cup, defeating Lisa’s Game and Tie The Knot.
Post-race there were vocal call from locals to have Cochrane sent to Port Arthur for the rest of his natural life. Instead, he got two months on the sidelines and a $20,000 fine.
Up until Caulfield Cup Day in 1998 I was a staunch monarchist but following correct weight on the race, I was a republican for life.
