|
The six-year-old mare, rated a 14/1 chance by bookmakers, gave
jockey James McDonald and trainer Chris Waller their first wins
in the gruelling two-mile handicap known as "the race that stops
the nation".
New Zealander McDonald was overwhelmed with emotion after
crossing on the horse that won last year's Caulfield Cup but had
never triumphed beyond 2,400 metres.
"I love her to bits, she's been so good to me," he said. "I can
safely say she is a champion now.
"She was relaxed the whole way ... I was blowing kisses to her
all the way. I just can't believe it. "I never thought I would
win one (Melbourne Cup), I dreamed I'd win one, it's so hard to
win. Her fight and determination just takes her so far. I want
to swear!"
British runner Spanish Mission finished third while last year's
winner Twilight Payment, trained by Irishman Joseph O'Brien, was
11th.
Australian stayer Incentivise was a 3/1 favourite, having won
its last nine starts and after blitzing the field in last
month's 2,400m Caulfield Cup, a traditional form guide.
The Peter Moody-trained gelding held the lead as it rounded the
final turn but Verry Elleegant, hauling a hefty 57kg, burst to
the front with 300m to the post and burned away.
The result was a huge windfall for property developer Brae
Sokolski, a part owner in both the winner and runnerup.
"That's the most humbling moment of my life," said Sokolski, who
jumped a track-side fence in breach of protocols to be near his
horses. "Incentivise obviously, he was the hype horse, we did
think he would win, but we had so much faith in her still.
"At the 200m mark, when I just saw those colours to the outside,
I knew the race was over because she just cruised into it."
Only two horses prepared outside Australia and New Zealand were
among the 23 that ran at Flemington, where a COVID-capped crowd
of 10,000 gathered on a hot, sunny day.
A spate of deaths among Melbourne Cup runners in recent years
had put Australia's most famous horse race under the microscope
and triggered strict, new veterinary rules which led to most
international stables snubbing it.
Without a strong foreign presence, pundits rated Tuesday's field
among the weakest in decades but there were no immediate reports
of any horse injuries among the runners in a relief for
organisers.
Rank outsider Future Score, trained by Matt Cumani, was
scratched in the morning after vets found lameness in his right
foreleg.
Animal rights activists turned up to protest at the gates of
Flemington, heckling racegoers and chanting: "Nup to the Cup!"
Police arrested a number of them for trying to chain themselves
to a truck loaded with manure near the racecourse.
Other demonstrators protesting against local COVID-19
vaccination mandates also marched to Flemington and gathered
outside the gates.
($1 = 1.3330 Australian dollars)
(Additional reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by
Stephen Coates/Peter Rutherford)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
