American dirt horse Parchment Party has long been the 2025 Melbourne Cup’s most perplexing challenger

American dirt horse Parchment Party has long been the 2025 Melbourne Cup’s most perplexing challenger. And in the days leading up to the race, little has changed for his Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “Naturally, we would really feel good about it if the race was run on the dirt,” Mott told FanDuel TV. “But it’s run on the turf and although he’s worked very well on the grass - we are very pleased with the way he’s moved and carried himself on the turf - he’s never won a race on the turf. “Our horse is a true stayer without a doubt. I think it’s all a matter of the surface and how he gets along with it.” Parchment Party famously found his way to Melbourne after a downpour at Saratoga (New York) in June forced the golden ticket race the Belmont Gold Cup (3200m) to the dirt. He was only to be entered for the race if it was moved onto the dirt and so he came into the race shortly before the field jumped away. He won by eight-and-a-half lengths and the idea of a golden ticket to the Melbourne Cup started to grow on his owners at Pin Oak Stud. Mott, who is unable to come to Melbourne to see the first American horse challenge for the Cup, explained Parchment Party’s unlikely journey. “We found out that he’s a real staying horse and he’s done real well in some of the distance races - a mile-and-a-half (2400m), a mile-and-three-quarters (2800m) races on the dirt. He won a stake (Belmont Gold Cup) in New York that was originally scheduled for the turf but was taken off and he won very easily. “However, in that particular race, it was a ‘win-and-you’re-in’ race for the Melbourne Cup and even though we ran our race on the dirt, he still got the privilege of the ‘win-and-you’re-in’ status. The owners wanted to give it a try. They are very excited about it. “It’s been quite a process in getting there. We had to ship from New York. We had to go to England for two weeks’ quarantine in Newmarket and from there, we had to fly to Australia and we’ve been in quarantine there but always allowed to train. “We had different training scenarios. At Newmarket, we’re going up the hills and up the gallops, the straightaways, so Parchment Party has had to adapt, and we’ve had to adapt a little bit from what our traditional training is here on an oval track. “But he’s taken it well. He looks good and he seems to be happy and so far, we haven’t had any setbacks. I’ve seen videos and that sort of thing, but I think we’ve been able to maintain a good amount of fitness with what we were able to do.” Rain is predicted in the lead-up to Tuesday’s race and Mott said that prospect concerned him. “They called for a little bit of rain over there, which will not be in our favour,” he said. “I think we were hoping the turf will be really firm and it would probably emulate more of a dirt track. For us, we would prefer real firm ground but we’ll just have to roll with the punches and see what happens.” Listed as a $51 Melbourne Cup chance on Friday, Parchment Party will be ridden by another US Hall of Famer in John Velazquez, who becomes the first American jockey to ride in the Melbourne Cup.