Gold standard for Melbourne Cup winner
Gold Trip has brushed aside an international challenge to win the Melbourne Cup, giving one of Australia’s biggest stables a breakthrough in the race.
Jockey Mark Zahra rides Gold Trip to Melbourne Cup victory. Photo: AAP/James Ross
One of five runners for co-trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Gold Trip defeated Emissary and stablemate High Emocean.
Gold Trip was given a perfect ride by Mark Zahra, who also celebrated his first win in the race.
Maher has now completed a career sweep of the Melbourne spring carnival’s most important races.
He trained Jameka to win the 2016 Caulfield Cup and teamed up with Eustace for Cox Plate glory in 2020.
It was triumph for an old-fashioned approach to Australia’s greatest race – as well as perseverance.
Of all the Melbourne Cup runners, none has been as busy during the spring as Gold Trip.
The import went agonisingly close to winning the Caulfield Cup before taking his place against the elite in the Cox Plate and finishing unplaced.
But under the urging of Zahra, Gold Trip delivered only the second win of his career and his first in Australia.
-AAP
