The instructions on Buckaroo and what Moreira told owners after questionable Cup ride

Joao Moreira has been questioned for his Melbourne Cup ride for a second year in a row.

Aboard race favourite Buckaroo, the Brazilian jockey jumped from barrier 21 but opted to snag the horse to the rear of the field where he settled for much of the race.

Moreira, who finished second on Soulcombe after a tardy start last year, then took off and was the widest runner around the turn before eventually fading to finish ninth, 3.5 lengths from the winner Knight’s Choice.

The tactics employed by Moreira have been questioned by many since, including SEN’s Gerard Whateley who was extremely critical of the ride.

“A three-kilo apprentice from barrier 21 can hook a horse back to second last and swing widest on the turn, but you can’t win a Melbourne Cup doing it,” Whateley said on SEN.

“It’s one of the worst decisions in Melbourne Cup history not to replace Joao with James McDonald on Buckaroo. It played out graphically before us.

“He died wondering. He was never given a chance.

“You’re the owner, John O’Neill, what say you?”

John O’Neill, a central figure in the ownership group of Buckaroo, was largely pragmatic with his response.

He and Ozzie Kheir would have liked the six-year-old gelding to be much closer to the speed rather than sitting at the rear, referencing the position Teo Nugent took up on Ciaron Maher’s Interpretation who is owned by the same group.

But he understands that not everything goes to plan in racing.

“It’s an interesting situation because we put a lot of work and money into trying to win this race,” said O’Neill.

“There’s a lot of people around the world trying to identify the right horses and then we get them here and the trainers do all the work, the support staff and the jockeys.

“From an ownership perspective we’re lucky to even have runners in the race. We do put our money in and we’re hoping to get the best result we can.

“Generally they charge the first three furlongs (600 metres) in this race and then they sit up because the horses have got to stay. You get a really good run in, it doesn’t really matter where you draw unless it’s barrier 1 because I hate being inside (with horses everywhere around you).

“So drawing where we did, certainly ‘Oz’ (Kheir) and I thought we were going to be positive and go forward, then chance our arm. If you’ve got to use a little bit more petrol to be there…

“If you look at the race and where Interpretation was, he drew 14 but Teo (Nugent) kept pushing forward. After they travelled about 500m, he was one off the fence and running sixth which is probably where we should have been with Buckaroo in my opinion.

“Here’s me making an opinion as an owner. I don’t want to sound like I’m a bad loser because having been in racing for a long time, it’s bloody difficult to win anywhere, let alone a Melbourne Cup.”

O’Neill explained what Moreira said to the owners post-race when describing what occurred at Flemington.

“He jumped and he said he got a bit of a check, then he had a look and tried to get in but couldn’t,” he said further.

“He had to drop his hands because he wanted to save some ground.

“I think we all know that at 20th at the 800m it was all over, he couldn’t win.”

What were the instructions from trainer Chris Waller?

“From Chris Waller’s perspective he wanted him to be second half of the field and one off the fence,” he added.

“I’m sure he didn’t want him to be last. At the end of the day, Joao made a decision to go back.

“I think we all know, from a racing aspect it’s very difficult because you draw these gates, you draw in, you draw out, you make split-second decisions on things that either win or lose you a race.

“If you’re Joao, he’s a world-class rider, does he go back inside? We saw what we experienced last year with Soulcombe going back inside. Funnily enough the horses that ran first (Knight’s Choice), second (Warp Speed) and fifth (Absurde) have all gone back inside.

“There was reasonable pace and those were the stayers in the race that found the gaps as you can on the way through.

“For us it was a really disappointing and frustrating day. We got way too far back in my opinion.

“There’s no sour grapes here, I’m not a rider, and Joao made the call.

“If the horse had have been in the first half a dozen and we had have been where Interpretation was and we let go like he did from the back 1000m from home, would he have been three in front at the clock tower? I think so. Would he have hung on and won? I think so.

“But that’s in hindsight.”

Trainer Wayne Hawkes, who did not have a runner in the race, also gave his two cents.

“I think I nearly threw up myself and I’ve nothing to do with it,” Hawkes said.

“It shouldn’t have just won, it should have s--t in. You got ‘Oh Joao’d’ last year, now you’ve been ‘Oh Joao’d’ again this year.

“That’s horrendous. It’s the worst car crash in the racing industry. Two years in a row, you should have won back-to-backs.”