Bold move that won the Melbourne Cup

Craig Williams made a bold move aboard Vow And Declare soon after the start that won him the Melbourne Cup.

Melbourne Cup 2019 photo finish. Picture: Channel 10

Craig Williams made a bold move aboard Vow And Declare soon after the start that won him the Melbourne Cup.

Williams, who thanked everybody except the man outside Hoyts in his post-race interview, missed Hugh Bowman — the jockey who had the greatest influence on the outcome of the event.

As others drawn wide “took their medicine” and restrained their mounts in search of positions in the back half of the field, Bowman and Williams clearly had other ideas.

Caulfield Cup runner-up Vow And Declare crossed to be in front passing the clock tower down the straight the first time.

Bowman, on Twilight Payment, was in no rush sliding forward to roll to the front turning out of the straight, slowing the tempo to a walk in the middle stages.

The 400m from the 3000m to the 2600m was run in 23.68s. That was when Williams put the next 200m behind him in 12.54s. Bowman throttled down to 27.13s from the 2400m to the 2000m.

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The 400m splits between the 2000m and the 800m were 26.93s, 26.92 and 26.18. All the while Vow And Declare had the box seat, parked in behind the leader.

It got hot in the kitchen after that with the 800m to the 400m in 23.53s and the 400m to the finish in 23.60s.

When a race develops into a sprint home like that, those in rearward positions have got no chance, especially at the end of 3200m.

Throughout the day, there was a mindset among jockeys that “the rail was off” and the leaders were coming three horses out on the home turn.

Nash Rawiller changed that to a point with his winning rides on Shared Ambition and Teleplay.

Italian jockey Frankie Dettori had parked Master Of Reality outside Vow And Declare throughout the slack quarters and when he came to the bend Bowman and Dettori shifted ground purposely.

Williams stayed down against the fence, saving ground. Vow And Declare slogged it out with Master Of Reality, who may have done enough but for Dettori resorting to one thing – pulling the whip through from his left hand to his right.

When he slapped Master Of Reality down the right side the horse, now fatigued, veered away from the persuader and prompted the drama 50m from the winning post that saw him tangle with the fast-finishing Il Paradiso, diving between him and the winner.

How did Il Paradiso dare to get so close?

Il Paradiso missed the start by three lengths and then mustered to be third last on the rails. Jockey Wayne Lordan sought to get away from the fence passing the 800m.

He saved ground near the inside, gathering momentum as he sliced between tiring horses, lifting as the crop struck with every three strides over the final 200m. Il Paradiso, a three-year-old by Northern hemisphere time, went to war for his jockey.

So did Surprise Baby. Jordan Childs will be asking himself whether he could have done things differently at the start, mid-race when there was no speed.

Truth is, from the home turn he was carted into the straight by walkers and they did none of the heavy lifting. Having his time over, he’d have got going a fraction earlier.