That’ll do from me now. It’s been a pleasure and I leave you in comfort knowing no horses have died today. Until next time.
Updated
My colleague Ben Doherty informs me there is a bit of serendipitous symmetry in the result. James McDonald rode Verry Elleegant wearing Melbourne Demons colours, in the same year the club won the AFL flag. The other James McDonald is a former Demons captain of more than 250 games. If you knew about this before the race you must be one lucky punter.
Updated
Verry Elleegant’s part-owner Brae Sokolski – who also part-owns Incentivise – got a little excited and jumped the fence after the race. What about the protocols??
“Sorry,” he tells 10. “The adrenalin got the better of me. These moments are once in a lifetime.”
He is seen here on the euphoric verge of embracing assistant trainer Johanne Taylor.
Full finishing list:
1. Verry Elleegant
2. Incentivise
3. Spanish Mission
4. Floating Artist
5. The Chosen One
6. Grand Promenade
7. Delphi
8. Selino
9. Tralee Rose
10. She’s Ideel
11. Twilight Payment
12. Miami Bound
13. Great House
14. Sir Lucan
15. Explosive Jack
16. Master of Wine
17. Pondus
18. Carif
19. Knights Order
20. Persan
21. Port Guillaume
22. Johnny Get Angry
23. Ocean Billy
I should note with relief that all runners appear to have completed the race unscathed.
The presentations are taking place, which means some not-very-subtle plugging of sponsor Lexus. Pleasantries ensue, as does polite clapping.
He continues.
“What dreams are made of. I can’t believe it. When I went for home, I don’t know, I don’t know what I was thinking. I was thinking, ‘where’s that post?’ You know, so much faith. Love her to bits. I just, I’m speechless, really.”
Verry Elleegant & jockey @mcacajamez return to the Mounting Yard victorious in the $8 million Group 1 Lexus #MelbourneCup! pic.twitter.com/FK2N2AS74r
— Racing Victoria (@RacingVictoria) November 2, 2021
The mare made her move on the final straight and would not be stopped from there. It is her 10th Group 1 win. McDonald is ecstatic. He kisses and punches the sky.
“Mwah!” he tells 10. “She was relaxed the whole way. When I looked at the 600, I still just, just... I was blowing kisss to her the whole way. I don’t know. I just can’t believe what’s just happened.”
Updated
James McDonald was on the winner of Verry Elleegant, one of Chris Waller’s four runners in this race.
1. Verry Elleegant
2. Incentivise
3. Spanish Mission
Updated
Verry Elleegant wins the Melbourne Cup!
By three and a half lengths!
Updated
Will there be a late dark horse in this? Only 500m to go and Persan still leads.
2000m to go and Persan is half a length in front with Incentivise in second. Knights Order and Floating Artist still up there, and Grand Promenade surging.
Tralee Rose is out in front early along with Incentivise, Floating Artist and Knights Order.
And they're off!
The 23 horses are racing.
Updated
The horses are in the barriers now. We’re close.
Meanwhile, outside ...
Updated
Payne is tipping Spanish Mission and Grand Promenade (if you’re interested).
Incentivise, as I’ve mentioned, is a favourite with odds so short he’s awesome concentrate. But the Melbourne Cup field is generally infamously open. Who could forget when Prince Of Penzance overcame 100-1 odds in 2015?
The jockey in the saddle was, of course, Michelle Payne, who was the first woman to ride the winner. Rachel King will become the 13th female jockey and will be out to become the second female to ride the winner when she partners Pondus.
Payne is on the Network 10 panel on today’s coverage and is taking a trip down memory lane to describe the pre-race vibe.
“Going over the final thoughts over the field,” she says. “How they intend on riding their horse and what might change when the barriers open. You have to go with the plan A and you need to have a plan B and if that goes out the window you need to make it up as you go.”
We are less than half an hour away from the big race now. Here is the final field with barriers:
1. TWILIGHT PAYMENT (IRE) G9 Joseph O’Brien 58kg (2)
2. INCENTIVISE G5 Peter G Moody 57kg (1.5kg penalty) (16)
3. SPANISH MISSION (USA) H6 Andrew Balding 57kg (14)
4. VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ) M6 Chris Waller 57kg (19)
5. EXPLOSIVE JACK (NZ) H4 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 54kg (4)
6. THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ) H6 Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman 54kg (5)
7 .DELPHI (IRE) H5 Anthony & Sam Freedman 53.5 (3)
8. OCEAN BILLY (NZ) G6 Chris Waller 53.5kg (13)
9. SELINO (GB)G6 Chris Waller 53.5kg (24)
10. JOHNNY GET ANGRY (NZ) G4 Denis Pagan 53kg (22)
11. KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE) G7 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 53kg (9)
12. PERSAN G5 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 53kg (11)
13. CARIF G6 Peter & Paul Snowden 52.5kg (8)
14. MASTER OF WINE (GER) G7 Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 52.5kg (6)
15. PONDUS (GB) G6 Robert Hickmott 52.5kg (1)
16. GRAND PROMENADE (GB) G6 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 52kg (21)
17. MIAMI BOUND (NZ) M5 Danny O’Brien 52kg (17)
18. PORT GUILLAUME (FR) G5 Ben & JD Hayes 52kg (23)
19. SHE’S IDEEL M6 Bjorn Baker 52kg (20)
20. FUTURE SCORE (IRE)G7Matt Cumani 51.5kg (15) — scratched
21. TRALEE ROSE (NZ) M5 Symon Wilde 51kg (12)
22. FLOATING ARTIST (GB) G6 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 50kg (10)
23. GREAT HOUSE (IRE) G5 Chris Waller 50kg (7)
24. SIR LUCAN (IRE) H4 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 50kg (18)
A quick digestible look at Melbourne Cup history:
* First run in 1861 under the banner of the Victorian Turf Club and won by Archer who beat the favourite Mormon by six lengths. The prize was 1420 pounds and the trophy a gold watch.
* Archer came back the following year to beat Mormon, this time by eight lengths, a record margin that still stands and is shared with the 1968 winner Rain Lover.
* Trainer Bart Cummings claimed the first of his 12 Melbourne Cups in 1965 with Light Fingers. His other winners were Think Big (1974, 1975), Gold And Black (1977), Hyperno (1979), Kingston Rule (1990), Let’s Elope (1991), Saintly (1996), Rogan Josh (1999) and Viewed (2008).
* Other trainers to have multiple Cup wins include: 5 - Lee Freedman: Tawrrific (1989), Subzero (1992), Doriemus (1995), Makybe Diva (2004, 2005); 4 - John Tait: The Barb (1866), Glencoe (1868), The Pearl (1871), The Quack (1872); Richard Bradfield: Patron (1894), The Victory (1902), Night Watch (1918), Backwood (1924); James Scobie: Clean Sweep (1900), King Ingoda (1922), Bitalli (1923), Trivalve (1927); W S Hinkenbothem: Mentor (1888), Carbine (1890), Newhaven (1896), Blue Spec (1905).
* Young Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien will be trying for his third win with Twilight Payment.
* Kingston Rule holds the metric race record of 3:16.30.
* In 1985, a new era dawned for the Cup with prize money raised to $1 million. The owners of What A Nuisance received $650,000 and a $23,000 Cup.
* This year the race is worth $4.4 million to the winning owners.
* The oldest horses to win the race were the eight-year-olds Toryboy (1865), Catalogue (1938) and Twilight Payment (2020).
* The last three-year-old to win was Skipton (1941). Technically the 2018 winner Cross Counter and 2017 winner Rekindling were three but considered four in the southern hemisphere.
* Bobbie Lewis and Harry White are the most successful jockeys with four wins.
* In 33 rides in the Cup, Lewis saluted the judge with The Victory (1902), Patrobas (1915), Artilleryman (1919) and Trivalve in 1927. He was also runner-up four times and finished third on Phar Lap in 1929.
* Harry White steered the Bart Cummings-trained Think Big to successive victories in 1974 and 1975. He was back in the winners’ circle again with Arwon in 1978 and another Cummings’ runner Hyperno in 1979.
* Three jockeys will be chasing their fourth Melbourne Cup win this year - Kerrin McEvoy (Grand Promenade), Damien Oliver (Delphi) and Glen Boss (Sir Lucan).
* Makybe Diva is the only horse to win the Cup three times - in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
* The longest-priced horses to win: Four horses have won at 100-1: The Pearl (1871), Wotan (1936), Old Rowley (1940) and Prince Of Penzance (2015).
* The shortest priced are Archer 2-1 (1862), Tim Whiffler 5-2 (1867), Revenue 7-4 (1901), Phar Lap 8-11 (1930), Even Stevens 3-1 (1962), Let’s Elope 3-1 (1991) and Makybe Diva at 5-2 in 2004.
* In 1993, Vintage Crop became the first northern hemisphere-trained horse to win. The Irish stayer was trained by Dermot Weld and ridden by Mick Kinane and is credited with putting the race on the world stage.
* In 2015, Michelle Payne became the first woman to ride the winner of the Melbourne Cup when she steered the Darren Weir-trained Prince Of Penzance to a famous victory.
* Rachel King will be striving to become the second female to ride the winner when she partners Pondus.
My colleague Calla Wahlquist has put together a superb explainer on the Cup’s horse welfare changes. If you are not across the background, I highly recommend reading this one.
“Organisers of the Melbourne Cup have been working to clean up its image after the high profile deaths of seven horses in the past six years.
The changes – aimed at making sure horses are fit to race and do not have undetected underlying conditions – have been rolled out alongside an advertising and social media campaign that focuses on horse welfare. But will it be enough?”
Profiteer wins Schweppervescence Plate (1000m)
1. Profiteer
2. Direct
3. Enthaar
So there is an Instagram page called @farshansonthefield dedicated to anti-Cup sartorial statements.
@moosenotmousse entry!
See the pink tiles in our feed for details on how to enter. Dress up or don’t. Just post something and say Nup to the cup. Help us hijack the cups hashtags.
#NupToTheCup
#fashionsonyourfrontlawn
#fashionsonthefield
#10styling
#MelbCupCarnival
#CupWeekFashion
#SpringRacingCarnival Photograph: moosenotmousse/Instagram
Lackeen wins Grinders Coffee Roasters Trophy (1400m)
It’s the veteran Damien Oliver in the saddle this time and he is thrilled.
“As soon as the gaps came, he was flying through them,” the 49-year-old, who will ride Delphi in the Melbourne Cup, tells Network 10. “Didn’t have to ask for effort. Point him through the gaps, he did the rest.”
1. Lackeen
2. Frankie Pinot
3. Blondeau
My colleague Jonathan Horn wrote an excellent piece over the weekend addressing some of less comfortable elements of horse racing. Here is a snippet and the full article is below.
“I don’t want to ban horse racing. I have a love-hate relationship with the sport. Like so many people who punt, go to the races, and opine for or against the sport, I really know nothing about horses. But I think racing is interesting. Some of my favourite sportswriters – WC Heinz, William Nack and Les Carlyon – brought the sport to life for me. Gerald Murnane’s three-page account of a dying steeplechaser at Flemington is just about the best piece of sports-writing I’ve ever read. None of those men shirked the abhorrent aspects of the sport. I think posting #nuptothecup does nothing but broadcast your own magnificence. I think vegans who glue themselves to roads and kidnap lambs are shrill, infantile twits. I think there’s a sneering, priggish undertone to much of the criticism of the sport.
“But there’s so much about racing that turns me off.”
The sun is out and so is Delta Goodrem’s décolletage. The Australian pop queen is channelling the Royal gramma fish.
The Royal gramma, native to the deep-water reefs of the Caribbean and also known as the fairy basslet, is a calm and shy fish in the Grammatidae family.
Goodrem is one of a boiled-down celeb turnout including Candice Warner, Love Island contestant Tayla Damir and Miss Universe Australia 2017 Olivia Molly Rogers.
Updated
It’s a hot one in Melbourne today. Right now the mercury is hovering around 28 degrees celsius, and it’s expected to stay that right throughout the meet.
At present the track is rated a Good 4. That could yet change depending how dry it gets, and could have ramifications for the likes of Miami Bound.
Is it a chicken? Is it an egg? No, it’s Jessica Rowe! The TV presenter has opted for a figure-hugging white dress and yellow heels, and a fascinator that is, well, fascinating. Herewith in her own words on Instagram.
Inside the course, the punters have arrived en masse in their Tuesday best.
A maximum of 10,000 fully vaccinated spectators are allowed into the venue.
Milton Park wins Furphy Plate (1800m)
1. Milton Park
2. Skyman
3. Charliese
“Say nup to the cup” is the catch-cry of the protesters.
Storming of the gate by Melbourne cup protestors pic.twitter.com/treFV085lw
— Julie Fenwick (@JMFenwick) November 1, 2021
And it appears animal rights activists are not the only demonstrators near Flemington today.
Uh oh. Got caught up in an anti-COVID vaccine and anti-Dan Andrews protest outside the Hill Gate at Flemington… #COVID19Vic #MelbourneCup pic.twitter.com/z98eM9333X
— Andrew Hawkins 🇦🇺💛💚 (@AndrewNJHawkins) November 2, 2021
Early arrests already happening in those protests I mentioned.
Apprehended at the gate pic.twitter.com/fZdjtDfqpa
— Julie Fenwick (@JMFenwick) November 1, 2021
Early race results
Race 1: Brereton won the first of the day, taking out the Darley Maribyrnong Plate (1000m).
1st – Brereton
2nd – Renosu
3rd – Le Gagneur
Race 2: Team Captain made light work of the 2800m Macca’s Run field with jockey Blake McDougall aboard. It would have been a welcome win for Matt Cumani, the Ballarat trainer whose Cup horse Future Score was scratched this morning.
1st – Team Captain
2nd – Accountability
3rd – Good Idea
Race 3: The Subzero Handicap (1400m) went to Excelman, and McDougall already has his double.
1st – Excelman
2nd – Naval Envoy
3rd – Standoff
Updated
Preamble
Good day to you and welcome to our live coverage of the Melbourne Cup. Are you feeling Incentivised today? The bookies certainly are – the Peter Moody-trained stayer is one of the shortest-priced favourites since Phar Lap over the 3,200m at Flemington. And the Australian is probably more of a chance given only a couple of internationals are running, which opens up the field for locally trained horses.
As ever, the Cup is a day of conflict for many, and animal welfare groups are camped outside the racecourse protesting at the treatment of horses in the racing industry. The first Tuesday of November has become increasingly polarising in recent years given the growing list of horse deaths. In last year’s race, Anthony Van Dyck broke down and was later euthanised, and has since been found to have been lame before running.
We will cover it all, and would appreciate your thoughts on all of the above.
The main race starts at 3pm AEDT, but I will be here between now and then for the undercards and, of course, some fash-ahn. Yay. Or should I say, neigh.
