Tears of joy as Hickmott lands second Cup success

SOUTH Australian trainer John Hickmott admitted there were tears in the mounting yard at Flemington yesterday after his son, Robert, prepared Almandin to win his second Melbourne Cup.

Trainer Robert Hickmott with triumphant jockey kerrin McEvoy after Almandin won the 2016 Melbourne Cup. Picture: Ian Currie

SOUTH Australian trainer John Hickmott admitted there were tears in the mounting yard at Flemington yesterday after his son, Robert, prepared Almandin to win his second Melbourne Cup.

It was a rare show of emotion by one of South Australia’s hardest working horsemen.

While his horse Flying Casino failed to fire early in the day, Hickmott said he couldn’t fight back the tears after Almandin gunned down Heartbreak City in a thrilling Cup finish.

“There have been a few tears, I have to admit,’’ Hickmott said yesterday

“Robert had all his family with him, it was pretty special for all of us,’’ he said.

Owner Lloyd Williams was also emotional, thanking his entire Macedon Lodge stable which had nursed Almandin back from a serious injury to win the Melbourne Cup.

“Lloyd was full or praise for Robert and his team to be able to get this horse back from tendon trouble to winning a Melbourne Cup,’’ Hickmott said.

“It’s been some sort of effort.’’

The Murray Bridge trainer said he was trying to find somewhere to watch a replay after being engulfed in the emotion surrounding Australia’s great race.

“I’ll have to watch the replay again. I couldn’t see him winning from where he was in the run,’’ Hickmott said.

“But when the two horse cleared out from the rest of them and knuckled down with 200m to go, it was a titanic struggle and he came up trumps.’’

“It’s a magnificent effort.’’

In contrast, Robert kept his emotions in check at the presentation ceremony.

He was up on stage, accepted his trophy and said a couple of words of thanks.

But for dual Cup-winning trainer Hickmott, that’s probably the last you’ll hear from him, at least until he wins another major for team Williams.

Hickmott is a rarity in the racing game. He was listed as the trainer of three runners in the Cup, all for Williams, including the winner .

But as trainers for his rivals were quoted ad nauseam in the lead-up to the great race, Hickmott was nowhere to be seen, or heard.

Instead, as always, Williams or his son, Nick, did the talking, leaving Hickmott to look after the horses.

Plenty in the racing game talk in whispers about the operation at Macedon Lodge, where Lloyd has poured millions in to a complex called “horse heaven”.

People say Lloyd is the trainer, he just doesn’t have a licence, that Hickmott is merely the name in the racebook, as he has been twice for Cup winners Almandin and Green Moon in 2012.

“I’d regard him as our trainer. But is he a trainer in the traditional sense of racing? No, he’s not,’’ Nick said.

Hickmott has been with team Williams for more than a decade, elevating himself through the “company” from a foreman. Lloyd yesterday called him a “first-class employee”, especially given what he has to deal with.

“I’m a very, very difficult boss. He has gone through thick and thin with me and got the result today,” Williams said.

“We discuss things, what we might want to do, and what we might not want to do. It is a two-way street, he tells me where he thinks it is, etc.

“He has learnt to worry about the small things, the big things take care of themselves. He is a first-class employee.”

And one with two Melbourne Cup trophies at home.

Originally published as Tears of joy as Hickmott lands second Cup success