admin For trainer Danny O’Brien, the international raiders were no match who flew the flag for Australia to win the $8m Melbourne Cup over 3,200m. And for champion jockey Craig Williams it was the first Cup win, Craig Williams who can now add the race to his impressive CV of Group 1 wins.
In the final stages Williams saved ground and Vow And Declare did the rest, producing an avid staying performance to grip on to victory. Earlier he has produced a excellent ride in the feature event. Before handing up to Twilight Payment to sit in the box seat third behind the leader leading as the field went past the post for the first.
For Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien and Italian jockey Frankie Dettori Master Of Reality was second past the post. For the second time in a row he has filled the placings in the Cup – Prince Of Arran flashed home to be third. However, the final finishing positions were changed following a post-race protest, lodged by stewards.
They ruled Master Of Reality laid in towards the fence in the closing stages and blocked the fourth-placed Il Paradiso for a run. Il Paradiso is trained by Aidan O’Brien, the father of Joseph, trainer of Master Of Reality. The protest was upheld, relegating Master Of Reality to fourth and promoting Prince Of Arran to second and Il Paradiso to third.
The remaining 23 runners appeared to finish the race in good health, after a spate of horse deaths on Melbourne Cup day over the past five years, including the fatality of The Cliffsofmoher in the 2018 edition.
More than 90,000 racegoers were at the Flemington racecourse to cheer on Vow And Declare, who started as the fourth favourite in the race. William is one of only a handful of jockeys to have completed the Grand Slam of Australian racing – Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, The Golden Slipper and Cox Plate, to be a Hall of Fame jockey.
Williams’s ride on Vow And Declare will be replayed for years to come as he hugged the fence to save the most ground in the race.
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