- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The 2016 Melbourne Cup won by Almandin was all about tempo. The speed set throughout gave the staying types a chance and made those without distance in their legs gasp for air.
The race time was around 2.6 seconds faster than last year, or some 16 lengths. It was a brutally run race. In one sentence, you can be an expert just by saying: “Gee it was run fast, wasn’t it?
That set it up for the two best stayers given the best rides.
So how did jockey Kerrin McEvoy win on Almandin?
From the start, Almandin sat towards the back, worse than midfield. He jumped well enough from barrier 17 to give himself some options, and set about finding an early position to settle the horse, letting the speed battle go on at the front without him.
At the front, horses like Curren Mirotic, Secret Number, and Big Orange took up the pace but burned too hot. All of the front-runners were gone a long way from home as it turned out.
What that speed did was to inject enough pace in the race to allow those at the back their chance.
The race was told between around the 1000m and the 600m mark. As those at the front weakened, the field came around the final bend, bunching and jostling for position.
Kerrin McEvoy, on Almandin, took the initiative here. Rather than wait patiently for a gap that might never have came he got out and worked his horse into a rhythym. At the 400m mark, Hartnell hit the front but that was too early for that horse given the speed in the race. Heartbreak
Jameka looked prominent at one point but couldn’t go with them.
Down the outside came Heartbreak City with Almandin giving chase. Heartbreak City must have thought he was the winner when he went past Hartnell.
They were walking by the end of the race. The last 200m was slow and a true test.
Almandin, of course, was able to chase him down. But they’d slowed to a crawl as you’d expect in a proper big race test over two miles like this.