By Sue Finley
Prominent businessman and Thoroughbred owner Earle Mack has purchased the racing rights and a minority interest in the breeding rights to Dylan Mouth (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), a multiple champion stayer in Italy, with an eye to the two-mile G1 Melbourne Cup on Nov. 7. Mack is no newcomer to Australia's greatest race, as Dylan Mouth will be his fourth entry.
“I'm excited to compete in the 'race that stops a nation',” Mack told the TDN via phone Tuesday. “It's the fourth time I've competed and I'm not giving up easily.”
His previous Melbourne Cup entries were Manighar (Fr) (Linamix {Fr})'s seventh in 2010 and fifth in 2011 and Mack also had the betting favourite in Mad Rush (Lemon Drop Kid), who finished seventh in 2008.
“The most exciting thrill was when I had the favorite, Mad Rush,” Mack reflected. “Every day it was a front-page story on the equivalent of the New York Times. They have parades and dinners, they import entertainers from America. It's in their culture, and in their blood. The atmosphere is electric. It's so exciting, and all anybody talks about is the Melbourne Cup, and of course it carries a very substantial purse [of A$6 million].”
“Of all their great races with their very rich purses, this is like their Super Bowl–even more than our Kentucky Derby,” Mack explained. “And that's why they call it the race that stops a nation. My loyalty is to American racing, of course, but if there were an award-winning or Pulitzer-Prize winning play, you'd want to see it. If there were a Super Bowl, you'd want to go see it. But the Super Bowl doesn't stop the nation like this does. It's like a holiday there. Nobody works and out of a population of 22 million people, they get 125,000, plus or minus, every year, at which point they stop selling tickets because they just don't want to create too much confusion. We get the same number of people coming to the Kentucky Derby out of a population of 300 million. It would be like having 6 million people come to the Derby in relative terms.”
Bred by Azienda Agricola Mariano in Ireland, the three-time Group 1 winner previously raced for Scuderia Effevi SRL and trainer Marco Botti and his earnings sit just over $1.35 million. Dylan Mouth recently saluted in the Old Newton Cup H. going 11 furlongs at Haydock on July 8 (video), his first win outside his Italian stomping grounds. Mad Rush won the 2008 edition.
Entered in the 2017 Tattersalls July Sale (lot 843) by Botti's Prestige Place as agent, Dylan Mouth was withdrawn prior to his July 14 hammer date. Going forward, Dylan Mouth will be racing in different silks, but Botti will remain in charge of the 6-year-old entire's conditioning.
“The horse will stay with Marco Botti,” said Mack. “He's a very competent trainer and he has gotten the horse this far. It's unusual for somebody to buy a 6-year-old, but if you look back at the horses who have won the Melbourne Cup, there are very few 4-year-olds who have done it.”
Dylan Mouth will not contest the Melbourne Cup straight out of quarantine, however, with possible starts including the 2400-metre Oct. 21 G1 Caulfield Cup or the Oct. 28 G1 Cox Plate over 2040 metres. He could face the mighty Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the latter showpiece.
“The immediate plans are to have one race or two races before the Melbourne Cup; either the Caulfield Cup or the Cox Plate in preparation,” Mack concluded. “I'm not sure what the period is but I believe it's 30 days. This horse is a good traveler. He has plenty of stamina on both sides of his pedigree. I think he can get two miles.
Upon his retirement, Dylan Mouth will stand at Worsell Grange Stud in Yorkshire, the stud which also stands Cannock Chase.
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