2018 Melbourne Cup

Last updated

2018 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
Location Flemington Racecourse
Melbourne, Australia
Date6 November 2018
Winning horse Cross Counter
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy
Trainer Charlie Appleby (UAE)
SurfaceGrass
Attendance83,471 [1]
  2017
2019  

300 to go, it's Finche, with A Prince of Aaran on the outside, Rostropovich is running on and Marmelo back to the inside too. A Prince of Aaran at the 200, Marmelo wearing it down, Marmelo gets up on the inside and here comes Cross Counter. Cross Counter coming at Marmelo, Cross Counter's flying, the blue army have done it at last!

Contents

Commentator Matt Hill describes the climax of the race

The 2018 Melbourne Cup (known commercially as 2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup) was the 158th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race was run over 3,200 metres (1.988 mi) on 6 November 2018 at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

Lexus commenced a five-year naming rights sponsorship deal, taking over from Emirates. [2] It was the last Melbourne Cup broadcast by the Seven Network before Network Ten takes over in 2019. [3]

The race was won by Cross Counter, ridden by Kerrin McEvoy and trained by Charlie Appleby. [4] [5]

Field

NumberHorseTrainerJockeyBarrierPlacing
1Best Solution Saeed bin Suroor (UAE)Pat Cosgrave68th [6]
2 The Cliffsofmoher Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) Ryan Moore 9Did not Finish
3Magic CircleIan Williams (Great Britain) Corey Brown 1716th
4Chestnut Coat Yoshito Yahagi (Japan) Yuga Kawada 414th
5Muntahaa John Gosden (Great Britain) Jim Crowley 139th
6Sound Check Michael Moroney Jordan Childs1618th
7Who Shot Thebarman Chris Waller Ben Melham 1817th
8Ace HighDavid PayneTye Angland2220th
9Marmelo Hughie Morrison (Great Britain) Hugh Bowman 102nd
10AviliusJames CummingsGlyn Schofield1122nd
11Yucatán Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) James McDonald 2311th
12AuvrayRichard FreedmanTommy Berry121st
13Finche Chris Waller Zac Purton 154th
14Red CardinalDarren Weir Damien Oliver 523rd
15Vengeur Masque Michael Moroney Patrick Moloney215th
16Ventura Storm David Hayes Mark Zahra 710th
17Prince of ArranCharlie Fellowes (Great Britain) Michael Walker 203rd
18NakeetaIain Jardine (Great Britain)Regan Bayliss312th
19Sir Charles Road Lance O'Sullivan (New Zealand) Dwayne Dunn 147th
20Zacada Murray Baker (New Zealand) Damian Lane 2413th
21Runaway Gai Waterhouse Stephen Baster1219th
22Youngstar Chris Waller Craig Williams 86th
23 Cross Counter Charlie Appleby (UAE) Kerrin McEvoy 191st
24Rostropovich Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) Wayne Lordan 215th

Fatality

Irish colt The CliffsofMoher was euthanised after he suffered a fractured right shoulder. [7]

Horse naming

Overseas horses may be forced to be raced under a different name if horses with the same name are raced in Australia. Sound Check was renamed as Sound, Cliffs of Moher renamed as The CliffsofMoher and Prince of Arran as A Prince of Arran (raced as Prince of Arran on 2019 and 2020 Melbourne Cup). Sound Check was permitted to be raced with its original name in the Melbourne Cup.

Penalties

After the races, 6 jockeys were fined.

Hugh Bowman was cited on three separate charges in the $7.3 million race - an incident of careless riding at the 500m, excessive whip use prior to the final 100m and the fact that he weighed in more than half a kilogram over his prescribed weight of 55 kg aboard runner-up Marmelo.

Kerrin McEvoy was fined $3000 after using the whip nine times - four more than what is permitted under the rules - on Cross Counter in the final 400m of the race.

Jim Crowley and Christine Puls were also suspended for careless riding on the undercard at Flemington. [8]

References

  1. "Track records and Attendances". Flemington.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. Lexus Melbourne Cup's new sponsor Archived 4 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine Racing.com 13 February 2018
  3. Ten wins Melbourne Cup broadcast rights from Seven Archived 4 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine Mumbrella 31 August 2018
  4. "Melbourne Cup: 2018 field, form guide and sweep". ABC News. 4 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. "Melbourne Cup 2018: Cross Counter takes out the Melbourne Cup". The Age. 6 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. Matthey, James. "Melbourne Cup 2018: Final finishing order" Archived 6 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine news.com.au, 6 November 2018. Retrieved on 6 November 2018.
  7. "Melbourne Cup: The CliffsofMoher breaks down during run, unable to be saved". Wide World of Sports. 6 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  8. "Hugh Bowman handed hefty suspension".