SANDOWN’S Zipping Classic meeting heralded the finale of Melbourne’s Spring Carnival. Trainer for Lloyd Williams, Liam Howley, took out the feature, a weight-for-age Group 2 race over 2,400 metres named after one of Lloyd Williams favourite horses, Zipping, a winner of the Sandown Classic four times (2007-2010) before the race was named after him in 2011.

Winning the race for a second consecutive year was The Taj Mahal, a 2017 Secretariat Stakes runner-up for Aidan O’Brien.

Home by a nose, the Galileo five-year-old had to dig deep to hold out the British-bred Champs Elysees gleding Dal Harraild, as the O’Reilly mare Our Libretto took third.

“He had hard runs in the Caulfield Cup and the Moonee Valley Cup, but he showed how tough he is to come out and do that today,” said Nick Williams.

Kerrin McEvoy on board the runner-up, Dal Harraild, said: “He’s very genuine and stays well. I look forward to seeing him progress into his next campaign because that’s his second gallant performance here.”

Ciaron Maher, trainer of Dal Harraild, expects to run his charge in the Melbourne Cup next year.