Melbourne Cup 2016: Lloyd Williams captures record fifth Cup with Almandin’s brave win
LLOYD Williams has become the most successful owner in the history of the Melbourne Cup, with Almandin giving him his fifth victory in the famous race.
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LLOYD Williams dusted off his top hat, came off the “interchange bench” and created Melbourne Cup history with a record fifth victory as an owner when Almandin won Tuesday’s $6.2 million race.
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On a day when the world came to Flemington, it was fitting that a 76-year-old Melburnian with a lifetime obsession with this race was the last bastion in keeping the Cup in Australian hands, albeit with an imported German galloper he bought two years ago with a long-range plan.
Along the way, the horse suffered a tendon injury, and had two years off the racetrack before on Tuesday etching his name — and Williams’ — into Melbourne Cup folklore.
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The victory was made all the more special by the fact Williams, a virtual recluse when it comes to race day, chose to attend Flemington after his son, Nick, dislocated his knee on Monday, and had been considered a doubter starter.
Williams looked into his wardrobe, took out the same suit he last wore to a Melbourne Cup in 1996, and turned out at Flemington to see his courageous horse run down Irish hope Heartbreak City in an epic run to the winning post.
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“This race means so much to me,” Williams said. “I have been brought up totally in a Catholic family which were publicans and punters, and all I can remember from at least five years of age is listening to the Melbourne Cup. This (race) has always been a part of my life.
“The great T.J Smith won the first one for me and after we won the first one, I was totally hooked.
“The Melbourne Cup has always stopped this nation, but now it stops the racing world.”
Williams had declared Almandin ($11) a weights special on the eve of the race, and that two-kilo difference between his seven-year-old gelding and Heartbreak City ($19) proved crucial in the long-head margin.
Godolphin’s favoured runner among its five starters in the race, Hartnell ($5.50) finished in third place, more than four lengths away.
Williams had been on track for his first two winners of this race — Just A Dash (1981) and What A Nuisance (1985) — but watched his other two — Efficient (2007) and Green Moon (2012) off track.
He normally watches his horses on television from his Melbourne home or from his Macedon stables, with the sound down so that he can concentrate on what he is seeing, not hearing,
But as a man given to superstition, Williams knows Almandin’s success yesterday almost guarantees he will be back on track next year.
“I haven’t been here for a long while, but I’ve really missed it,” he said. “I’ll be back.”
Nick Williams, on crutches but still in attendance on Tuesday, added: “I dare say that I will be sitting in the Bahamas watching next year and Dad will be here (at Flemington).”
Williams, who spends millions in searching for potential Cups horses, joked that if could win another 10 Cups in the next 12 months, it might just about square the ledger.
But he is certain to funnel much of the $3.6 million first-prize cheque back into chasing more success next year.
Tuesday’s win saw him pass the three other owners who had previously held the record for the most Cups wins — Etienne de Mestre (1861, 1862, 1867, 1878), John Tait (1866, 1868, 1871, 1872) and Dato Tan Chin Nam (1974, 1975, 1996, 2008).
But Williams isn’t about to rest on his laurels.
He joked he still has time on his side to chase the late, great Bart Cummings, ‘the Cups King’, who trained 12 winners of the race.
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“My major problem now, at 76, is (wondering) if it is possible for me to catch Bart,” he said with a smile. “That’s my hope, to get to 12 (winners).”
Williams said he was still learning more about the European horses he targets as potential Cup horses, but lamented the fact that Australian owners don’t seem to have the same patience as they used to in supporting staying sires.
“I have bought some very bad horses to bring out here to try and win the Melbourne Cup,” he said. “The success didn’t come quickly.
“I think we have learnt a little about the European horses and what we need to do with them. We certainly made plenty of mistakes. But they say you are never too old to learn.”
He admitted to being a pedantic owner, praised trainer Robert Hickmott for dealing with this, and heaped the accolades on jockey Kerrin McEvoy and the Macedon Lodge staff.
But, most of all, he praised the horse for the resilience shown in coming back from a tendon injury to win Australia’s most cherished race.
ORDER OF FINISH
ALMANDIN
HEARTBREAK CITY
HARTNELL
Qewy
Who Shot Thebarman
Almoonqith
Beautiful Romance
Exospheric
Pentathlon
Big Orange
Grand Marshal
Oceanographer
Bondi Beach
Grey Lion
Jameka
Excess Knowledge
our Ivanhome
Sir john Hawkwood
Assign
Gallante
Secret Number
Wicklow Brave
Curren Mirotic
Rose Of Virginia
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