Melbourne Cup: Hawke’s Bay jockey in the hoofsteps of the great Kiwi

Michael Dee, in orange, has been in imperious form in the lead up to Australasian racing's biggest day. Photo / Scott Barbour - Racing Photos

Former Napier Boys’ High School student Mick Dee holds one of the few remaining New Zealand interests in the Melbourne Cup after the naming of the 24-horse field on Saturday night.

It comes 40 years after the 1983 win by jockey Jim Cassidy on Kiwi, a year after Cassidy, having originally ridden for Hastings trainer Patrick Campbell, won the Hawke’s Bay Sportsman of the Year title.

The 27-year-old Dee, who was first apprenticed to Hastings trainers Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen, will be aboard Australia-based Irish stayer Cleveland which takes last-race winning form into the 3200m race which starts on Tuesday at 5pm – the race said to “stop two nations”.

Cleveland won the 2500m Moonee Valley Cup on October 27, while Dee, in his 11th season since starting as an apprentice jockey in New Zealand, rode another Cup runner, Interpretation, to win the Bendigo Cup last week, the most recent winner of 681 in Dee’s career.

They include rank-outsider Lunar Fox at odds of over 130-1 in the 2021 Australian Guineas (A$1 million), and last year Durston in the Caulfield Cup (A$5 million) and Manzoice in the Victoria Derby (A$2 million).

Son of former trainer Richard Dee and wife Jo, of Waipukurau, Dee has had three rides in the cup, starting with Gallante when last in 2017, Persan, which was fifth in 2020, and Great House, which was 13th in 2021, and he was booked to ride favoured hope Lunar Flare when it was a late scratching last year.

With no New Zealand-trained runners, after Taranaki-trained Hawke’s Bay Racing Livamol Classic winner Ladies Man failed to make the field of 24, New Zealand interests turns to Dee and fellow Australia-based New Zealand jockeys James McDonald (top weight Gold Trip) and Daniel Stackhouse (Daquiansweet Junior).

The Cup will be his first race ride on 6-year-old stallion Cleveland, which will also be racing at Flemington for the first time, the horse having been ridden by McDonald when it won the Moonee Valley Cup.

Cleveland has had 15 starts for 3 wins, one of which was over 3749m at The Curragh in Ireland in May 2022.

No 10 in the book and drawn difficultly at No 23 from the barrier, he was early on Monday afternoon paying $29.60 to win and $9.90 for a place on the New Zealand TAB, with which the favourite was 6-year-old Irish gelding Vauban, paying $4.20 and $2.70 despite having not raced since a win in Ireland in August.