IT is no wonder why Dermot Weld is one of the world’s leading racing figureheads as even on a normal race day in Australia his name will be murmured among the punters as people speculate whether or not Pale Mimosa will make the trip over to take on the world’s greatest stayers in the Melbourne Cup.

Of course, Mr Weld is synonymous with the race not only for the fact he has won the race on two occasions in 1993 with Vintage Crop and 2002 with Media Puzzle but the knock on effect that those victories had on Australian racing and breeding is astronomical.