Rekindling wins the 2017 Melbourne Cup
The 2017 Melbourne Cup has been won by Rekindling.
The four-year-old won the race from Johannes Vermeer and Max Dynamite after an expert ride from Corey Brown.
All the talk pre-race had been about fancied International hopes, and the 157th Melbourne Cup did not disappoint.
Trained by Joseph O’Brien and owned by Lloyd Williams, the gun stayer finished strongly to head a gallant Johannes Vermeer with just 50 metres to go.
Flemington Fling won by outsider
The 1000m sprint, aptly named the Flemington Fling, was won by Prezado, which was paying $20 at Crownbet.com.au. Bandipur ($8) and William Thomas ($13) rounded out the placings and continued a tough day for punters.
Moreira fall and cold doesn’t dampen spirits
A packed Flemington, which didn’t have its spirits dampened by one of the coldest recorded Melbourne Cup days, had earlier seen a horror fall featuring the world’s best jockey Joao Moreira, when he fell from Regal Monarch in the fourth race on the card, the Ronald McDonald House Benchmark 96 (2800m), eventually won by the Hayes-Dabernig trained Fanatic.
Moreira, who is yet to win a Melbourne Cup, will have to wait at least another year, with Stewards ruling him out of the main event, with young apprentice Ben Allan taking his place aboard lightweight hope Thomas Hobson.
Horsebetting.com.au‘s man at the track, Todd Davey, tells us Moreira was seen suited up and in good spirits an hour after his fall.
Gai always a presence on Cup day
The first race on the 2017 Melbourne Cup Day card was taken out by Setsuna ($4.60), the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained two year old, gained a nice lead at the top of the straight before finishing strongly, holding off Roobeena ($10) and Aristocratic Miss ($14). Pre-race favourite Qafila, a $2.90 shot trained by the Hayes-Dabernig stable never got into the race under the guidance of Kerrin McEvoy.
… More to come