‘If he wins, he’ll shout the bar’ – free beers all round should More Felons spring a Melbourne Cup surprise
Twenty-five years after Brew (Sir Tristram) delivered him Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) glory, owner Richard Pegum will be hoping history can repeat itself when $41 shot More Felons (Churchill) steps out for Chris Waller in Tuesday’s renewal of the race that stops the nation.
Pegum, who was among Brew’s ownership group when the gelding stormed home from barrier 23 to win the 2000 Cup for Mike Moroney and Kerrin McEvoy, will again be represented by a horse drawn in the same gate. It is a coincidence that has not escaped his attention.
“With Brew, we drew gate 24 and it came into 23. Everyone said, ‘oh what a disaster that is’, but obviously it wasn’t,” Pegum told ANZ News. “Unfortunately I was in England at the time, so I missed it, and I’m in Hong Kong this time, so it seems to be a bit of déjà vu, hopefully.
“My son, Charles, and my wife Donna will be there and are part of the ownership group, which is good. A lot of those outside barriers have done very well. If you go back historically in the last five or ten years, a lot of the placings have come from the outside barriers, and some of the winners. So I’m not too worried about it.
“We’ve got 800 metres down the straight before we actually turn and go around the corner. So there’s a good chance to get in and not be too far back.”
Like many Cup runners, More Felons’ story stretches across continents. Bred in Ireland by Brian O’Neill, the gelding was first sold to Hamish Macauley Bloodstock for €125,000 at the Goffs November Foal Sale before being resold at the Orby Yearling Sale, where Jamie McCalmont secured him for £220,000.
Initially named Scriptwriter, he joined the Aidan O’Brien stable, winning over a mile at his second juvenile start. As a three-year-old, he was sold again at the Tattersalls July Sale for 62,000gns to Mark Adams, who placed him with Milton Harris. There, he was gelded and found early success, winning his first three starts, including the Prestbury Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham.
That’s when Pegum and his long-time friend Paul Henry entered the picture.
“Paul was coming over for Royal Ascot and we go every year,” Pegum recalled. “Paul wanted to have a runner and it was his 50th birthday. So we bought the horse for his birthday.”
Their new acquisition lined up in the Copper Horse Handicap (2816m) at Royal Ascot, finishing seventh behind familiar names, Vauban (Galiway) and Absurde (Fastnet Rock), who he will clash with again at Flemington on Tuesday.
“He was called Scriptwriter when he was in England, and then he ran in a race over there at Royal Ascot, and then we brought him home to Australia,” Pegum said. “But because there was already a horse named Scriptwriter, we had to change the name. Paul owns a brewery in Brisbane and Manly called Felons Brewery. And so he called it More Felons. That’s how he got his name.”
Felons Brewery, it seems, will be the place to be at 3pm on Cup Day.
“If he wins, he’ll shout the bar, I’m sure he’ll do the same with all Felons beer,” Pegum said. “If you go into Felons tomorrow after he wins, there’ll be free beer.”
More Felons will attempt to improve on his midfield finish in the 2023 renewal of the Cup, and his connections believe he is a far more seasoned horse this time around.
“The horse came out here and is a very promising horse. He got second in a Group 1 two years ago, and then after that run, he bowed his tendon, so he was out for 12 months in rehabilitation, and he’s come back really well,” Pegum said.
This preparation, the seven-year-old has steadily built towards his target, finishing fourth in both The Metropolitan (Gr 1, 2400m) and St Leger Stakes (2600m).
“His run in the Metropolitan was absolutely fantastic,” Pegum said. “He came from last to only be beaten by 1.3 lengths, and he meets the winner [Royal Supremacy] three and a half kilos better, and the winner of that race is quite in the betting. Our horse has improved, we know he can stay the distance. We’ve Tommy Berry on at this time and he’s a very good jockey, so we’re very excited by it.”
“I think he’s definitely a top five chance. We’ve a good horse, which is in good form, with a good weight, good jockey, and a champion trainer. We think we’ll run a good race.
“We’ve got a great syndicate of people involved. My boys went to Riverview, and all the old boarding parents have got together. It’s called the Riverview Turf Club, and they own 10 per cent of the horse, and there’s 20 members of that, so they all come down from all the different farms all around New South Wales, and they’re all really excited as well. We’ve got a good ownership group and it should be a lot of fun.”
With rain falling in Melbourne on Monday and more predicted for Cup Day, Pegum is unfazed by the prospect of a soft track.
“We’re not too worried about it,” he said. “He is a horse bred in Ireland and they seem to swim over there, so we’re not too concerned about it, no. I don’t think the track’s going to be heavy. Flemington really handles the rain very well.”
Trainer Chris Waller, who won the Cup in 2021 with Verry Elleegant (Zed), shares Pegum’s confidence that More Felons can run a big race.
“His run in the St Leger in Sydney was good. They went too slow,” Waller said via social media on Monday morning. “He was placed in the Tancred Stakes in Sydney just over a year ago, and that was a Group 1, 2400-metre race, so we know he can get the distance.
“We know he’s got the class. He’s ready to peak, so that’s why he can win a Melbourne Cup.
“Obviously, his form has got to be at the absolute best, but we can’t fault him.”
As for Brew, now 31 and happily retired at Living Legends, grazes far from the Flemington roar, Pegum dares to dream that More Felons might rekindle the magic of that unforgettable day 25 years ago.