Shocking won the 2009 Melbourne Cup at Flemington.(credit:
osedgman)
The $5.65 million Emirates Melbourne Cup is known as the race that stops a nation and that has never been as true as last year’s renewal when Shocking ran out a sensational winner of the world’s most prestigious race.
In 2009 a whopping 23 horses went to post after Changingoftheguard was scratched for being lame on Tuesday morning. Nobody will need telling that Bart Cummings was chasing his thirteenth victory in the race, Britain were hunting for their first ever victory in the Flemington showpiece and a crowd of over 100,000 packed onto the course for the two mile spectacular.
The race proved why the Melbourne Cup is often regarded as one of the world’s greatest sporting events and no matter what the 1-2-3, it was always going to be a thriller!
Shocking was tackled hard by Godolphin’s Crime Scene who made a good battle of it, but Shocking always seemed to have more petrol in the tank and jockey Corey Brown was gaining compensation for losing by just a nose aboard Luca Cumani's Bauer in 2008.
"Last year was very disappointing, and now I've finally won the Melbourne Cup. It's a dream come true, I can't describe the feeling," said Brown.
"I kept looking on the outside thinking something was going to flash home. Great job Mark Kavanagh and the horse.
"He travelled three deep no cover, I know he had a light weight, but he toughed it out very well."
Winning trainer Mark Kavanagh added: "I didn't give him a hope in the running, he was trapped deep.
"I said halfway through, it's hard to win a Melbourne Cup, but he looked so good on Saturday, and he improved since that run.
"This preparation was timed to perfection, he came good at the right time.
"I honestly thought he just can't keep going. He was just the superior stayer on the day."
Melbourne Cup 2009 – The result
1 Shocking
2 Crime Scene
3 Mourilyan