Golden victory

MELBOURNE: Gold Trip, the horse that was ruled out of the Melbourne spring carnival last year after failing vet checks, claimed the ultimate prize in Australian racing with just the second victory in his career.
Gold Trip won the A$8 million (about K18 million) Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse yesterday.
Emissary ran second ahead of third-placed High Emocean in Australia’s “race that stops the nation”.
Initially brought to Australian shores to win last year’s Cox Plate, the former French galloper broke an 878-day drought with his Melbourne Cup success, as trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace climbed the pinnacle of Australian racing for the first time.
Warrnambool horseman Maher has now claimed the holy trinity of the Australian turf, joining champion trainers such as Bart Cummings, Tommy Smith and Lee Freedman in a select club.
Maher won the 2016 Caulfield Cup on Jameka and completed the big three in partnership with Eustace, who was born and raised in England.

For jockey Mark Zahra, the triumph marks redemption for last year when he missed the ride on Verry Elleegant after being suspended for breaching Covid-19 regulations.
Gold Trip’s only victory before this race came in a group 2 event in June 2020, though the stallion had been placed multiple times at the highest level. Such was his class, the son of Outstrip had run fourth in one of the world’s most prestigious races, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2020.
He is the first horse to carry the No.1 saddlecloth to glory since the great Makybe Diva won the third of her Melbourne Cups in 2005.
In a race lacking the depth of recent editions, Gold Trip’s quality shone through in the slog up the straight. From barrier 13, Zahra settled the AU$21 (about K47) fancy among the backmarkers three-wide with cover off a solid tempo set by Serpentine.
The race changed complexion about 900 metres from home when Tim Clark aboard Knights Order, this year’s Sydney Cup winner, poured the pace on, pinching a break rounding the turn.

Tracking Young Werther, Gold Trip had clear galloping room rounding the bend and into the straight, bursting clear just before the 300m mark before holding off a spirited charge from Geelong Cup winner Emissary to win by two lengths.
“I can’t (put this into words). I’ll start crying,” Zahra said. “It’s unbelievable. What a day.
“I got to the front a bit soon but he’s a horse that when you want to go for it, you want to go for it. I don’t give him a chance to think about it.

“That last 100 (metres), I was thinking ‘just piss off and no one come near me’. Elation, just elation, across the line.”
High Emocean, another of the five runners from the Maher and Eustace stable, rattled home for third, one and a quarter lengths away.
Despite his edge in class and strong form this spring, Gold Trip was not considered among the leading contenders. A distance doubt, he was given every chance to run out the two miles on his preferred wet going.
“They’re the best trainer of stayers. That’s one thing I had confidence in, that they trained it,” Zahra said.
“I was actually quite vocal that I didn’t think he’d get the trip and thankfully my good mate Jamie Spencer didn’t have much luck on him. Probably just the perfect lead-up run.

“‘Bossy’ (Glen Boss) was ringing me the other day going ‘this is the one’ and I said I’m already on it and he was ringing me last night telling me how to ride it. I said, ‘I’ve got this Bossy, I’ve got this’.
“He picked it straight off the Cox Plate. He was so confident.
“More confident than me apparently.

“That probably gave me a bit of confidence too.”
Maher paid tribute to his farrier John Bunting for getting a horse that was found to be lame last spring to run in all three Melbourne majors.
“He’s quite dicey, this horse, and he’s done a fantastic job,” Maher said. “To run in three of the big ones and have him present in the Cup like that – fantastic.
“It opened up beautifully and we had a plan going out with Mark. He was very good on him in the Caulfield Cup and we just wanted to wait, wait, wait and we knew he’s got that good turn of foot and he was fantastic.”
Emissary challenged briefly near the 200 but, unable to run in a straight line, could not sustain his run.
“The plan was to ride him quiet, conserve all his energy. We did that and he ran a massive race. Beaten by a better horse on the day,” Patrick Moloney said.
Deauville Legend, the favourite, was one of the last horses off the bridle but was no match for the winner.
“The ground has probably just gone against him a little bit,” Kerrin McEvoy said.
“He didn’t step great, but I was able to tuck him in towards the inside, got a nice trip around and he travelled really well. He might not stay past a ‘mile and six’ (2800m) but he ran a good race,” he said yesterday. – Fox Sports