After the prestigious Melbourne Cup with its rich prize money was run yesterday , racing authorities have confirmed that a new venture is to be put in place .

A red faced committee man spoke to our reporter , expressing his anger that one of our great sporting events had been hijacked by foreigners.

"It's bad enough ," he declaimed , " that the oil rich countries have been entering their horses in this great traditional Australian event , but at least they have contributed to our economy . We've been able to sell them wheat by our clever trading , and we've even exported racing camels to their countries .

But it's a bit much when Japanese horses take out the quenella in our most famous race , even though an Australian jockey rode the second horse. It's not good that our Cup should go overseas ."

When pressed to explain why home grown horses did not win , he went on to explain future plans.

" It's not the horses , it's the jockeys . Our jockeys are too well fed and too big .

Just look at the size of that Japanese rider. One of our hoops would have made two of him ! We have to get smaller jockeys . We need a new initiative .

So , our racing authorities under my leadership are considering setting up a breeding stud for jockeys. We may have to import short -- er sorry , vertically challenged , women , probably from Asian countries , and mate them with similar men from Australia . We can set up a thoroughbred jockey's register and sweep the pool in the future " .

He brushed aside any possible objections that could be put to the scheme , and also hinted that a similar project may be begun for breeding bookmakers .