Irish trifecta triumph in Melbourne Cup
Melbourne – Rekindling won the 157th running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse yesterday, giving Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien a maiden triumph Down Under and victory over his father’s horse in a thrilling sprint to the line.
The four-year-old colt, a 14-1 shot, roared home in the final straight of the 3 200-metre handicap, reeling in master trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Johannes Vermeer to clinch “the race that stops a nation” by half a length.
The William Mullins-trained Max Dynamite came third, completing an Irish trifecta, as pre-race favourite Marmelo faded to ninth in the A$6.2 million (R67.6 million) race.
“I just can’t quite believe it,” said Joseph O’Brien. “Over the moon.”
Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O’Brien has made a number of bids to win the world’s richest two-mile handicap over the past decade.
He prepared Mahler for a third place finish in 2007 but victory continues to be elusive.
Rekindling’s win gave jockey Brown his second Melbourne Cup win, after he rode the Mark Kavanagh-trained Shocking to victory in 2009.
It also continued Ireland’s fine Melbourne Cup record since the Dermot Weld-trained Vintage Crop raced away with the 1993 trophy and became the first winner prepared outside Australia and New Zealand.
There was a powerful Irish assault on yesterday’s race, with six in the field of 23 groomed by the country’s trainers. – Reuters