Another Melbourne Cup run and won. Another Lloyd Williams trophy in the cabinet at Macedon Lodge.
They say money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy horses good enough to win the race that stops the nation, as the leviathan owner went back-to-back with Rekindling following on from Almandin last year.
Barriers are always a tricky thing to assess. Many a trainer has scratched their horse after drawing too wide, preferring to wait for something easier. The Hawkes camp are notorious for complaining about bad barriers.
On the other hand, plenty of punters enjoy backing horses that have a poor gate, figuring they get over the odds. Some races, like the Doncaster Mile and Oakleigh Plate, often provide winners that have drawn wide.
In a Melbourne Cup, they are as often irrelevant as they are a key to the outcome.
More 2017 Melbourne Cup
» Race report: Rekindling wins
» Who came last
» Complete finishing order
» Watch video highlights replay
» Re-live the race with our live blog
» Regal Monarch’s horror fall
» Winning trifecta and quinella
» Winning exact and first four
Take last year’s edition, for instance. Almandin and Heartbreak City fought a memorable war down the straight, after drawing barriers 17 and 23.
Of the first six home, Hartnell in third drew the most-inside gate, with 12. Qewy, Who Shot Thebarman and Almoonqith finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, from barriers 15, 20 and 19.
This year, it was a different story.
The first four home, Rekindling, Johannes Vermeer, Max Dynamite and Big Duke, all drew next to each other in barriers, four, three and two respectively.
They each enjoyed the cosiest possible runs, ensuring they had enough energy at the end of two miles to accelerate when other horses were tiring or had endured tougher runs.
The horses that finished fifth, sixth and seventh weren’t so lucky at the barrier draw. Nakeeta jumped out of 19, Thomas Hobson out of 20, while Tiberian had to make his way from gate 22.
Thomas Hobson settled last out of the home straight the first time, with Nakeeta not far in front of him. They were jagged to the tail straight out of the barriers, with their jockey’s looking to conserve energy early in the race.
They ran at least as well as some of the horses in front of them, but were never a winning threat the way the race panned out, after taking their positions at the tail.
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Poor old Tiberian was given one of the worst rides in the great race’s history, at the hands of his usual jockey Olivier Peslier. Here was exhibit A for why many international connections like to use local riders.
There can’t have been many horses cover as much ground as Tiberian was forced to. He was never closer than four wide, and was asked to move around the field mid-race despite a steady tempo being set.
To still have the gall to run seventh after spending a couple of furlongs wading through the Maribyrnong River was an outstanding performance, and he might well have been in the finish if he had drawn one of the inside barriers.
Rekindling’s win also dispelled the notion that international runners must have a run in Australia in order to take home the Melbourne Cup. Such thinking has always been overplayed, even if Vintage Crop in 1993 was the last horse to do it.
Last year, Heartbreak City went down by a nose. The year before, it was Max Dynamite running second. Red Cadeaux ran second three times – in 2011, 2013 and 2014 – without having a run in the country beforehand.
This year, five of the first seven horses home were internationals having their first run in the Australia. It should be the result that dispels that particular myth for what it is.
This Melbourne Cup did seem to lack the lustre of previous years.
Partly, it might have been down to Winx’s third Cox Plate dominating the latter stages of October, meaning the race that stops our nation didn’t have its usual build-up.
Perhaps fatigue of the Lloyd Williams’ domination has set in, given he seems to own a quarter of the annual field or more. The Melbourne Cup has always been the people’s race, but the Williams team aren’t exactly easy to identify with.
The familiar names and older characters weren’t there. Bart Cummings and his charisma is gone. Lee Freedman, always quick with a quip, isn’t a player anymore. Damien Oliver wasn’t riding due to suspension. The current names that are familiar to genuine race fans simply don’t resonate with the wider public. The sport is more niche that it ever has been.
Inside barriers in the main race were the story of the day. Lloyd Williams winning is becoming the story of the Melbourne Cup in a historical sense. Where racing sits in the Australian landscape these days is the question for the immediate future.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Down 5% on the Cup, up 4% on the day
Reno
Guest
Brother they've been on the decline since '89!!
Tristan Rayner
Editor
Cam, I just saw the sectionals are up. Quite right about Tiberian, running an extra 21m. Almandin ran an extra 22. Poor old Frankie Detorri, another shocker - I said as much in my column, and Peslier deserves the same treatment although at least he didn't do that after already failing 15 times...
kv joef
Roar Guru
Thx Max ... but no. Concerning the a best-seller ... it has already been written 110 years ago. Here are 4 quotes that governed my lucky stab at this year's Cup ... 1. Successful handicappers know every detail in regard to the horses upon which they are intending to place their money. 2. Special knowledge is not a talent. A man must acquire it by hard work. 3. Watch all the horses racing closely. You may see something that will be of benefit later on. 4. Time enters into the argument under certain conditions but if depended entirely for a deduction it will be found wanting. Reading through the comments most have missed the 'controlling factor' that determined the outcome completely. I'll post to the other thread or write another small piece that may explain it to the interested. a little hint ... it mainly concerns point (4) but i would have worded it differently.
johhny nevin is a legend
Guest
Youngest horse since 1941 to win, 1-2-3 for the Irish, father beats son. Plenty of interesting stories from yesterday’s race. We’ve heard the doomsday predictions before about internationals dominating after the 2 French horses won 2 in a row but didn’t materialise. Of course breeding is dominated by internationals but don’t believe necessarily believe trainers will have a monopoly in future.
Razzar
Guest
The wind was nothing like the winds of August & September. The first two days of this Carnival, rails front running, has mostly had the day. The wind has played little or no part, on how the track has raced. It’s defenately not serious bias, but it’s not that fair on backmarkers. ?
Davico
Roar Pro
It's amazing how little Bowman cops about his riding just because he looks like a genius when he rides Winx. He has got to be one of the worst Group jockeys going around. He went WAY too early yesterday and if you have a look at his rides this season excluding Winx he has butcherd plenty while rarely being the difference to a win.
Not so super
Guest
Exactly
Not so super
Guest
I heard it was down 5%
Not so super
Guest
You are a bore Andrew
Scuba
Guest
The race was a lesser standard than in recent years, evident from the fact that a perennial failure like Bondi Beach wore saddlecloth number 8. The better "local" horses (who people tend to get behind) were either not at their peak in the lead up (Hartnell) or were obvious risks at 3200 (Humidor). Neither Winx not "Williams fatigue" had much to do with any of that. As for the lack of stayers in this country, while it is very early days the Reliable Mans are looking promising. Whether they will quite run 3200 in years to come remains to be seen. Shocking is also going pretty well given that he hasn't exactly had the best mares around.
Cameron Rose
Expert
It was certainly poor, Peter. I could have put it in when writing about the ride on Tiberian, but didn't.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Yes, I was happy with my Cup day assessments overall, Addington, thanks for noticing. Such a hard day, so to be around the mark in half the races is fair enough I reckon. I'm completely with you on Bowman. I wonder if the Winx Cox Plate saga took a bit out of him. I don't think he's been at his best the last couple of weeks. Yep, JV was so good again. I never felt the trip was going to be a problem.
Cameron Rose
Expert
You're on fire today sheek!
Kangajets
Guest
D j I think you summed it up very well .
Cameron Rose
Expert
His actions on the horse indicated to me that he got going while the leaders capitulated.
DJ
Guest
Regrettably the race that stops a nation risks becoming the race that bores a nation dominated by Lloyd Williams and European elites Local trainers cannot compete with the deluge of imports supported by an oligarchy of bourgeoisie owners and trainers Gone are the days when a thousand dollar horse trained on a farm as a stockhorse can win the Cup I derived a lot more pleasure watching Humidor duke it out with Winx in the Cox Plate than a bunch of internationals in our marquee race This was probably the most anticlimactic Cup I have ever had the displeasure of watching and hope we are not witnessing the decline of staying races in the staying capital of Australasia
spruce moose
Guest
Sheek, Not at all...hence why I called it a jeremiad instead of a rant because of that clear passionate and articulate desire to return to a more ideal driven sport. Your words may not be considered in great regard now, but I sense in the future they may carry more weight - as some of the great dissents tend to be!
Matt
Guest
I love the Cup. Yes it may no longer be a race available to a school teacher from Darwin or a farmer from New Zealand and it doesn't have our own bushy eyebrowed horse whisperer who was allergic to horses anymore. But there is still wonder in the race. This year we saw the O'Brien's fighting out for Cup supremacy. It was marvellous.
Haradasun
Guest
There was a massive southerly blowing which naturally favours horses closer to the rail. Pretty tough to complain about the track when its the weather influencing conditions