Jockey Nick Hall delivers a masterclass on Fawkner to win the Caulfield Cup

HARD luck stories were the common theme offered by rival jockeys after a masterclass by Nick Hall delivered Caulfield Cup success.

Greg Hall

HARD luck stories were the common theme offered by rival jockeys after a masterclass by Nick Hall delivered Lloyd Williams an overdue Caulfield Cup success on Saturday.

While Hall was able to conjure the perfect run. Others weren’t so lucky.

Craig Williams said barriers were the difference between him winning the race and running second on Dandino.

Damien Oliver said the slight setback in Jet Away’s preparation was the probable reason he spent the first half of the race trying to get the horse to settle.

Jim Cassidy lamented Hawkspur’s barrier and said he didn’t get the breaks he needed from back in the field.

The fallout from the Cup continued into the evening last night, with Glen Boss (Silent Achiever) suspended for 12 meetings owing to an incident where he shifted in onto Fawkner (Nick Hall), which in turn caused severe interference to Glencadam Gold (Tommy Berry).

The suspension means Boss needs to be successful in an appeal if he’s to partner Puissance De Lune in Saturday’s Cox Plate.

“I have to plead guilty because I shifted in, but I just feel really unlucky. I felt I have been dealt a bad hand,” Boss said.

“I’m 100 per cent saying there could have been a little more (help) from Nick.

Greg Hall

“If he gives me a call, this incident doesn’t happen.”

Hall himself was suspended last night after an incident in the opening race.

He was outed for 10 meetings and now misses the Geelong Cup, Manikato Stakes and Cox Plate meetings.

In winning, Hall was able to do what his father Greg couldn’t – win a Caulfield Cup for Williams.

Hall senior, who was easily the proudest man at Caulfield yesterday, failed narrowly on the Williams owned Nayrizi when second to Cole Diesel in the 1989 Caulfield Cup.

“We’ve got the full set now,” Hall senior said in relation to this being the only race in the Grand Slam (Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup, Golden Slipper being the others) he did not win.

Hall stole the show on Stradbroke day this year with his inside run on Linton and produced another gem to guide Fawkner home a convincing winner of yesterday’s Caulfield Cup.

Admittedly helped by a good barrier, Hall was able to settle Fawkner well back in the field, but he made ground coming to the turn and was poised to challenge when others were seeking runs or trekking wider.

“He is such a special horse to me and they’ve prepared him to the absolute second and they produced him today,” Hall said.

“He was doubted at the distance but in the back of our minds we were always pretty optimistic.”

Lloyd Williams predictably wasn’t among the 33,056 fans at Caulfield yesterday, preferring to watch from the “grandstand” at his home.

Nick Williams, representing his father Lloyd, said Fawkner was almost sold last year.

“We’d agreed to sell him and they didn’t stump up the money and I had said to dad that at a mile he was probably handicapped out of the big miles because he’d had a great spring last year,” Williams said.

“Dad said he was glad the bloke didn’t pay because he’d been thinking about it and thought we could win the Caulfield Cup with this horse.

“We’re pretty big on setting horses for their grand finals and this was his grand final and he’s done a great job.”