Americain (2005−2022) was an American-bred French trained

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse. He won the 150th

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

in 2010, ridden by

Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé (born 3 January 1967 in France) is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983 and his success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned train ...

, trained by

Alain de Royer-Dupré Alain de Royer-Dupré (born 24 September 1944http://www.breederscup.com/bio.aspx?id=2334 Breeders' Cup trainer profile) is a leading French thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Early life He grew up at the Haras de Saint Lô, a national stud farm in N ...

and owned by Melbourne businessmen Gerry Ryan and Kevin & Colleen Bamford. Americain was purchased in February 2010 by Ryan and Bamford after his 2009 season included a Group 2 win in France and a failed campaign in the United States. He headed into the Melbourne Cup with four consecutive wins, including the Group 2

Prix Kergorlay The Prix Kergorlay is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 3,000 metres (about 1⅞ miles), and it is scheduled t ...

at his last start in France before heading to Australia, and the Group 3 Geelong Cup at his first Australian start. He won the Melbourne Cup by 2 lengths, beating Maluckyday into second and champion Australian and short-priced favourite

So You Think So You Think (foaled 10 November 2006) is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse, now majority owned by Coolmore Stud of Ireland. So You Think came to prominence through winning the 2009 and 2010 Cox Plates, Australia's premier weight for ag ...

into third. He was the first French-trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup. Americain followed up his Melbourne Cup win by running third in the

Hong Kong Vase The Hong Kong Vase is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (about miles or 12 furlongs) at Sha Tin, and it is scheduled to take place each year ...

. Returning in 2011, his four runs in France in preparation for his Melbourne Cup defence yielded only one win. However, on return to Australia, he won the

Moonee Valley Cup The Moonee Valley Gold Cup is a registered Moonee Valley Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged four-years-old and upwards under Set Weights with penalties conditions, over a distance of 2,500 metres, held annually at Moone ...

, which made him favorite for the Melbourne Cup despite his 58 kg topweight. He would run fourth in the 2011 Melbourne Cup and subsequently won the

Zipping Classic The Zipping Classic, is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under weight for age conditions over a distance of 2400 metres run at Sandown Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in mid November. Prize money is A$750,000. Hi ...

. Americain resided at the well known Victorian breeding stud, Swettenham Stud until June 2022 when he was humanely euthanised following a paddock accident in which he broke his leg.

Namesake

Australian rail operator

CFCL Australia Rail First Asset Management (RailFirst), formerly known as CFCL Australia (CFCLA), is an Australian rolling stock leasing company operating in the rail freight market. It leases assets to a number of private rail operators in the local rail indus ...

named locomotive CF4404 after the horse.Motive Power Roundup ''

Motive Power ''Motive Power'' is a bi-monthly railway related magazine that focuses on diesel locomotives in Australia. The first issue was published on 23 August 1998. Its headquarters is in Sydney. The content includes photographs of locomotives & trains, ...

'' issue 79 January 2012 page 20

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 2005 racehorse births Melbourne Cup winners Racehorses trained in France Racehorses trained in Australia Racehorses trained in the United States Racehorses bred in Kentucky Thoroughbred family 1-n 2022 racehorse deaths