Just Fine breaks 53-week drought in The Bart Cummings to score Melbourne Cup ticket

Group 1 winner Just Fine showed tremendous fight to break a year-long drought in The Bart Cummings and secure a spot in the Melbourne Cup.

Just Fine hangs on to win The Bart Cummings at Flemington. Picture: George Sal/Racing Photos via Getty Images

A purse of $300,000 and a shot at millions more hinged on the strength of Just Fine’s heart in the last 100m of The Bart Cummings at Flemington.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Just Fine had led for every stride of the $750,000 contest, which also offered a Melbourne Cup ballot spot to the winner.

Just Fine hadn’t won for 53 weeks, since claiming the Group 1 Metropolitan at Randwick last spring, and started to tire with 100m to run in The Bart Cummings.

• BET LIKE A PRO: Get expert tips from Racenet’s team of professional punters, with fully transparent ROI statistics, in our all-new Pro Tips section. In the past 28 days, our tipsters have returned a $1510 profit for $10 unit bets! SUBSCRIBE NOW to start winning.

Point King, part-owned by Waterhouse’s great friend Lloyd Williams, and Amade were closing rapidly, raising the pulses of Just Fine’s plethora of owners in the MyRacehorse syndicates.

The wet conditions turned the last 100m into a slugfest but jockey Jordan Childs extracted just enough from Just Fine to get him home in a three-way finish ahead of the closing Point King ($5.50) and Amade ($41).

Waterhouse gave a simple explanation for Just Fine’s winless period.

“Often they can peak and then they can lose the plot,” Waterhouse said.

“You know, they’re not machines, they’re animals and he just trained off.”

Just Fine books his ticket into the Melbourne Cup! 🏆

What a day for @MyRacehorseAU and @GaiWaterhouse1! 👏 pic.twitter.com/VrDJZm1DNC

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 5, 2024

Waterhouse said she decided to change Just Fine’s program after his previous outing in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes at Caulfield.

She said she and Bott decided to increase Just Fine’s workload in the ensuing period, which paid off in the tough conditions of The Bart Cummings.

“When I saw him the other day and he raced at Caulfield, I wasn’t happy with him so we just sort of gave him a little bit more work and just did different things,” Waterhouse said.

“I just knew today that you really have to try hard to beat him.

“So has it just been a matter of building and getting his fitness level right there.”

While Just Fine is ballot exempt from the $8m Melbourne Cup, he became liable for a weight penalty from Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper David Hegan on Monday.

Childs said he hoped for a weight penalty which would allow him to ride the import in the Melbourne Cup.

Just Fine had 52.5kg in the Melbourne Cup before his latest win.

“He’s got a great set of lungs on him,” Childs said.

“He’s a free-bowling horse. He’s just won his ticket to the Melbourne Cup, so he’ll be there for a long way.

“Hopefully he can get a good penalty and I’ll be able to jump on him on Cup day.”

Originally published as Just Fine breaks 53-week drought in The Bart Cummings to score Melbourne Cup ticket