LOCALLY-TRAINED HORSES KEPT  the international invaders at bay when Green Moon gave Australian jockey Brett Prebble his first win in the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.

Hong Kong-based Prebble drove six-year-old Green Moon (19-1) to the front in the long Flemington straight to beat off another Australian-prepared stayer Fiorente (30-1) by a length in the famous two-mile race.

It was left to third-placed Jakkalberry (80-1), trained at Newmarket by Italian-born Marco Botti, to fly the flag for the eight foreign raiders, finishing another length and a quarter away.

Prebble, 35, who has been based in Hong Kong for the past 10 years, said the experience had given him the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I went to Hong Kong an arrogant young kid. It made me grow up a lot,” he told reporters.

“It’s a lifelong dream. I was very confident at the mile, then at the 1200 (metres) I thought the only thing that could get him beaten was his stamina if he didn’t stay the trip.

“But the feeling he was giving me at the 1200m was the sort of feeling you only get from very good horses. I’ve been very fortunate to ride some champions and he’s up there in the top 10.”

Prebble only arrived in Melbourne the day before the Cup, having ridden a treble in Hong Kong on Sunday.

The jockey was due to fly back to Hong Kong to fulfil riding commitments at Happy Valley on Wednesday but was seeking an exemption from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club late on Tuesday so he could celebrate his Melbourne Cup win.

“If not, I’ll be there riding (Wednesday). I am very appreciative of what the club has done for me, not only as a jockey but as a man,” he said.

The four main international hopes — Mount Athos (5th), Red Cadeaux (8th), Americain (11th) and last year’s winner and 6-1 favourite Dunaden (14th) — all missed the top spots.

Leading English jockey Ryan Moore on Mount Athos said: “The pace was too slow for me.”

Damien Oliver rode the 2010 Cup winner and well-fancied Americain.

“The slow pace was against him. They really outsprinted him with the big weight but he still ran well,” Oliver said.

Oliver was the centre of attention in the build-up to the Cup over an alleged illegal Aus$10,000 winning bet he had on another horse in a race he was riding in 2010.

Banned

There is no suggestion Oliver did anything to prevent his mount from winning but jockeys are banned from betting in Australia.

Oliver refused to comment to reporters on the alleged betting scandal, even after he rode a winner earlier on the Cup day race card.

Dunaden, who was trying to become the first European stayer to win two Melbourne Cups after last year’s victory, was never a chance.

“I nearly fell off at the start. The slow pace, big weight, he probably needs weight-for-age races and a bit shorter distance now,” Dunaden’s jockey Craig Williams said.

The win gave well-known Australian owner/breeder Lloyd Williams — a longtime friend and business partner of the late Australian media mogul Kerry Packer — his fourth Melbourne Cup success.

His previous winners were Just a Dash, What a Nuisance and Efficient.

Green Moon is by the Irish sire Montjeu out of the French mare Green Noon. The Cup winner is trained at Mt Macedon, about 80 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, by Robert Hickmott.

Dermot Weld’s Galileo’s Choice came in a disappointing 20th.

- © AFP, 2012

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