MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australia-trained gelding Knight’s Choice has won the 164th running of Australia’s premier horse race the Melbourne Cup at odds of 80-1.
The unfancied five-year-old was well back turning for home in the two mile handicap at the Flemington racecourse. But Ireland-born jockey Robbie Dolan threaded a path through the field of 23 horses to win in a photo finish from the Japan-trained runner Warp Speed.
The race has prizemoney of US$5.6 million and drew horses from Ireland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The 28-year-old Dolan was based in County Kildare in Ireland before moving his family to Queensland, Australia eight years ago.
He made an early mark with two Group 1 wins. But until Tuesday he might have been better known downunder as a singer after his appearance on the Australian version of The Voice television talent show in 2022.
His first ride in the Cup was made more special when he was surprised Tuesday morning by his father Bobby who had secretly traveled from Ireland to be at Flemington.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I watched all the Melbourne Cups of the last 40 years last night and I thought my best chance was if I could get him to stay the trip and hopefully I could rattle home. He just proved everybody wrong.
“This is the biggest race in the world and winning it is incredible. I didn’t know what to expect but I feel like I’ve ridden it 10 times because I have ridden it in my head 100 times.
“To win it with (my father Bobby) here and my little daughter Maisy and my partner Christine … I’m going to cry again. ”
Knight’s Choice is trained by Australian John Symonds and New Zealand-born Sheila Laxon. It was the first win in the Spring classic for Symonds and the second for Laxon who trained Ethereal to win in 2001.
“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could win,” Symonds said. “What a great ride by Robbie.
“He took the risks, he went through the pack. I was worried he got further back than we talked about but it was a great ride and what a thrill.”
The four-year-old Australian mare Zardozi and six-year-old stallion Okita Soushi were vying for the lead as the field approached the winning post.
But Knight’s Choice and Warp Speed dashed between the leaders and Knight’s Choice held on to win by a nose from Warp Speed.
Okita Soushi which held on for third place was ridden by Jamie Kah, one of four female riders in the race. That was the largest contingent of female jockeys in the race’s history.
The field was reduced to 23 runners Monday when the Australia-trained runner Athabascan was scratched after a vet check showed the six-year-old trained by John O’Shea and Tom Carlton had a cardiac arrhythmia.
The Melbourne Cup is known locally as The Race That Stops A Nation as Australians traditionally stop work to watch the race which is staged annually at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November.
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