Vow And Declare Melbourne Cup Winner
Vow and Declare under a hard riding Craig Williams looked beat approaching the wire, but horse and rider would have none of that. They re rallied along the rail to win by a long neck over Master of Reality and Frankie Dettori who ran a race too good to lose. There were four horses on the wire within a length of each other. Vow and Declare was dead game to come back like he did on the fence.
The local Australian horse gave veteran Craig Williams his first Melbourne Cup win while denying Frankie Dettori his first win in the prestigious race, a rare major race that has eluded him. Dettori in the midst of what may be his finest year riding to date looked poised to take the Melbourne Cup when he surged Master of Reality to the lead in mid stretch. The pair stayed game until the wire but could not hold off the resurgent Vow and Declare and Craig Williams. Williams and Vow and Declare led the field past the stands the first time around but looked like they had succumb to the rally of Master of Reality. The Australian dug down and came again to secure the victory. Prince of Arran was third. Master of Reality was later disqualified from second and placed fourth following what a stewards inquiry or as they say down under a post race stewards protest.
The ruling was Master of Reality came in bothering Il Paradiso trained by Joseph O’ Brien’s father Aidan O’ Brien. Had Master of Reality won, it would have been devastating to Dettori to lose a Melbourne Cup win that way. Joseph O’ Brien was fresh off a jet setting win in the Breeders’ Cup with Iridessa.
