AN old-fashioned approach has given a new-age racing partnership its finest moment with top-weight Gold Trip winning the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n
In a triumph for spring perseverance, Gold Trip defeated Emissary and stablemate High Emocean in Australia’s greatest race.<\/p>\n
Gold Trip made light of his 57.5-kilogram under jockey Mark Zahra, revelling in the soft ground to provide Ballarat co-trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace with a Melbourne Cup breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Maher and Eustace are renowned for employing a sports science slant to their training methods, using data and technology to fine-tune a team of thoroughbreds that is spread across multiple Victorian stables, and a satellite operation in Sydney.<\/p>\n
The training partnership had five runners in the race.<\/p>\n
“They’re the best trainers of stayers,” Zahra said.<\/p>\n
“That’s one thing I had confidence in, their training. Because I was quite vocal, I didn’t think he’d get the distance.”<\/p>\n
In the end, Gold Trip’s victory was built more on home-straight courage than any analytics. Of all the Melbourne Cup runners, none has been as busy during the spring as Gold Trip.<\/p>\n
It is rare for the modern-day thoroughbred to contest the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup in one campaign.<\/p>\n
But in a throwback to another era, Gold Trip went agonisingly close to winning the Caulfield Cup before taking his place against the elite in the Cox Plate and finishing unplaced.<\/p>\n
“This horse is quite dicey and he’s done a fantastic job. And to run in three of the big ones and have him present in the Cup like that was fantastic,” Maher said.<\/p>\n
Gold Trip delivered for only the second win of his career and his first in Australia.<\/p>\n