MELBOURNE
\nRank outsider Knight\u2019s Choice upset favourite Buckaroo on Tuesday to win the Aus$8 million (US$5.25 million) Melbourne Cup, earning Irish jockey Robbie Dolan a debut victory in Australia\u2019s \u201crace that stops a nation\u201d. The five-year-old Australian-bred gelding came home by a nose in a photo finish ahead of Japanese raider Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in the energy-sapping 3,200-metre (two-mile) handicap at Flemington.
\n\u201cPinch me, I\u2019m dreaming,\u201d said Dolan, who was riding in the famous race for the first time. \u201cIt is incredible. I can\u2019t believe it. I don\u2019t even know what to say.\u201dI didn\u2019t know what to expect, but I feel like I\u2019ve ridden it 10 times because I have ridden it in my head 100 times. \u201cI can\u2019t put it into words. It is the biggest race in the world.\u201d
\nBuckaroo, priced as the $7.00 favourite, finished ninth while the fancied Vauban could only manage 11th on a warm and sunny day, with the track firm. A cultural institution in Australia, the Melbourne Cup has been run since 1861 and is considered so important it is a public holiday in its host state of Victoria. Held in front of a bumper crowd, drinking and socialising took priority over racing for many, with the sound of popping champagne corks accompanying the thundering of hooves.
\nBreaking from barrier six, the John Symons and Sheila Laxon-trained Knight\u2019s Choice, priced at $81.00, settled in the middle of the 23-strong pack behind early leader Just Fine.With 1,000m to go, Just Fine was still ahead but was slowly reeled in down the home straight with Knight\u2019s Choice, Warp Speed and Okita Soushi all surging for the line. It was a second victory for Laxon, who became the first woman to train a Melbourne Cup winner in 2001 with Ethereal.
\nShe said Symons had always been confident despite Knight\u2019s Choice\u2019s outsider status, and lavished praise on Dolan.\u201dHe did, he did,\u201d she said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t give him instructions, he knew what to do.\u201dI\u2019m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people\u2019s Cup, and that\u2019s what it is all about.\u201d
\nA record four women jockeys took part with Jamie Kah faring best, with her third on Okita Soushi.
\nMichelle Payne is the only woman rider to win the Melbourne Cup after she steered Prince of Penzance to victory in 2015. There was one withdrawal by stewards before the race started with French import Athabascan found to have an irregular heartbeat, reducing the field to 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MELBOURNE Rank outsider Knight\u2019s Choice upset favourite Buckaroo on Tuesday to win the Aus$8 million (US$5.25 million) Melbourne Cup, earning Irish jockey Robbie Dolan a debut victory in Australia\u2019s \u201crace that stops a nation\u201d. The five-year-old Australian-bred gelding came home by a nose in a photo finish ahead of Japanese raider Warp Speed and Okita […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-441902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n