Another Melbourne Cup, another wealthy winner. Gerry Ryan, who was valued at $180 million earlier this year and owns one of Australia’s biggest caravan businesses, yesterday fulfilled a lifelong dream by winning the Melbourne Cup with French horse Americain.
Ryan, who owns the Melbourne-based caravan giant Jayco, just missed the cut-off for this year’s BRW Rich 200 list, and was listed as a contender with a $180 million fortune.
Ryan is perhaps best known as one of the biggest individual supporters of sport in Australia. Jayco has been at various times a sponsor of Australian cycling events and teams, basketball teams (particularly women’s), St Kilda Football Club and the Melbourne Storm rugby league team, where Ryan was a director.
But horse racing has always been a passion for the businessman. Five years ago, he and fellow entrepreneur Kevin Bamford – who owns Melbourne company Labelmakers – decided they would try to get a runner in the Melbourne Cup.
“We are mates from the Carbine Club and five years ago Kevin and I sat down and he told me how he experienced a runner in the Cup,” Ryan said yesterday.
Their first two attempts went awry – a colt died in a paddock accident and a mare wasn’t up to Melbourne Cup grade.
Ryan, who has raced horses in France, then hit upon a plan to import a French stayer who was pre-qualified for the Melbourne Cup and which they knew could run the distance.
The found Americain and bought him for $225,000. The horse had performed well in France before racing in America without success, bur Ryan and Bamford saw an opportunity.
“He’d shown bad form in America but if you discounted that form he had excellent form,” Ryan said.
“It’s qualified for the Melbourne Cup and the first criterion to buy a horse is to buy a horse that’s qualified.
“Every race it won after we bought it was a bonus. We bought it to run in the Melbourne Cup – not to win the Melbourne Cup – to run in the Melbourne Cup.”
On the way to the Melbourne Cup, Americain scored an impressive win in the Geelong Cup lead-up event, before careering away in the big race to beat Maluckyday and So You Think.
Ryan and Bamford are now planning a new Melbourne Cup assault. As Bamford says, they still need a cup for each trophy cabinet.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
