Melbourne Cup Winner Efficient Is Biggest Earner
Melbourne Cup winner Efficient will finish the season as Australia’s highest earning racehorse, based on his lone win at Flemington last November.
The son of Zabeel was the only horse to top $3million in earnings in Australia over the past 12 months and he will be out to repeat when he tackles the Melbourne Cup Odds for a second time this year, attempting to join the likes of Think Big, Rain Lover, Peter Pan, Archer and Makybe Diva as dual winners of the great race.
Four other horses topped $2million this season: Golden Slipper winner Sebring, six times Group 1 winner Weekend Hussler and the Cox Plate hero El Segundo.
Each will be back this spring chasing bigger riches.
Efficient is the early Melbourne Cup Betting favourite, but Weekend Hussler’s trainer Ross McDonald is adamant he wants to attempt the famous race with his budding champion and bookmakers continue to report strong interest from punters.
Weekend Hussler is yet to race beyond 1600m, but McDonald has no qualms about him going to the 2040m of the Cox Plate, the 2400m of the Caulfield Cup and even the 3200m of the Melbourne Cup.
In all, 13 horses earned $1million or more in Australia this season, with Efficient, El Segundo, Tuesday Joy and Forensics the only names that also appeared on the list for the 2006-07 racing season.