Lexus Melbourne Cup (Group 1)

VOW And Declare defied allcomers on Tuesday to claim the A$8 million Lexus Melbourne Cup, becoming the first Australian-trained, bred and owned winner since Shocking in 2009.

Trained by Danny O’Brien with jockey Craig Williams on-board, the Declaration Of War gelding was well fancied in the market and one of only three ‘local products’ (including New Zealand) as northern hemisphere-bred horses dominated the field of 24, led by the O’Briens, Aidan and Joseph, with seven starters.

Left to his own devices on pre-race instructions, Craig Williams produced a masterclass, urging his mount forward from the jump, negating the effect of barrier 21 and finding the lead at the winning post the first time before handing up to Twilight Payment.

Predictably, the pace eased on the riverside as Hugh Bowman on Joseph O’Brien’s race leader dawdled through the next 1,200 metres at 1m 21:51sec before the pace picked up again with 1,000 metres to run making the task that much harder for the backmarkers.

Positioning

Sweeping through the final bend Craig WIlliams made good on his excellent positioning to drive for home as Master Of Reality (second in running) first drifted out then back in after Frankie Dettori switched the whip to his right hand.

Prince Of Arran (fifth in running) was up for the challenge, as Il Paradiso with Wayne Lordan weaved through the field from third last on the bend. Chiming in from out wide, also from a similarly rearward position was Surprise Baby.

In the best Cup finish for many years, Vow And Declare, who had been headed, fought back to nose out Master Of Reality and Prince Of Arran as Il Paradiso, merely a neck from the winner was fourth over the line as Surprise Baby was a closing half-length away in fifth.

Reviewing the result, stewards lodged their own protest, the first time in Cup history, fourth against second, citing the manner in which Frankie Dettori allowed Master Of Reality to drift in over the final 100 metres, denying Il Paradiso a clear run to the line. The head-on vision left little doubt. The stewards upheld the protest and the revised result saw the Charlie Fellows team the lucky beneficiaries, being promoted from third to second, Il Paradiso went up to third and Master Of Reality back to fourth. Dettori was dealt a nine-meeting ban.

Bought in at the 2017 Inglis Classic Sale on a reserve of $65,000, Vow And Declare is out of the Testa Rossa mare Geblitzt.