Twilight Payment a bold frontrunning winner of historic Melbourne Cup

Jockey Jye McNeil dodged emus and kangaroos when learning to ride near the Murray River.

Jockey Jye McNeil after riding Irish stayer Twilight Payment to victory in his first Melbourne Cup ride Picture: Getty Images

From dodging kangaroos and emus in the bush to riding the race of a lifetime at Flemington, Victorian jockey Jye McNeil has always been at home in the saddle.

But in his first Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, the only obstacle for McNeil was the daylight ahead of him as he produced a frontrunning masterclass aboard Irish stayer Twilight Payment on a historic day at Flemington.

The eight-year-old, which paid $26, led from pillar to post to defeat race favourite Tiger Moth ($6.50) by a long neck, and Prince Of Arran ($9.50), which placed for the third year in succession with another strong finish.

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On returning to the scales, the jockey from Koondrook on the Victorian border said he had “goosebumps” after securing a victory he “dreamt of as a boy”.

“Obviously with where he was in the market, I wasn’t feeling a lot of pressure,” McNeil said.

“But when you have got to forward like that, there is some pressure in getting it right. Thankfully it all came together.”

In the first Melbourne Cup run without a crowd, there was sadness when the Aidan O’Brien-trained Epsom Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck, a stablemate of Tiger Moth, broke down. The five-year-old was euthanised.

The success by Twilight Payment, the first all-the-way winner since champion Might And Power in 1997, gave Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien a second triumph in Australia’s great race.

The 27-year-old became the youngest man to train a Melbourne Cup winner when Rekindling won in 2017.

Twilight Payment, by Teofilo from Dream On Buddy, was Lloyd Williams’ seventh Melbourne Cup winner and continued a recent purple patch for the leviathan owner.

It is the fourth time Williams has won Australia’s great race this decade after the successes of Green Moon in 2012, Almandin in 2016 and Rekindling three years ago.

The 80-year-old’s other successes came with Just A Dash in 1981, What A Nuisance in 1985 and Efficient in 2007.

Williams had promised on Monday the Melbourne Cup would be run at an even pace with one of his three starters setting it.

When King Of Leogrance was withdrawn on race morning, it left the task to either McNeil on Twilight Payment or Ben Melham on Master Of Reality.

And McNeil made every post a winner. Twilight Payment split the field apart when upping the ante in the middle stages and held on courageously in the straight.

According to his wife Jessica Payne, who is also a jockey, McNeil approached the most significant day of his career like any other.

They enjoyed a “breakfast of champions” with their infant son Oakley before he headed off to etch his name into history.

“Poor Oak’s probably got concussion from my jumping up and down so much,” she said.

“He left the house like he would any other morning. And he was so calm and collected. We had bacon and eggs for brekkie, so the breakfast of champions, which is great.”

It is just over four years since McNeil suffered a serious leg injury after being caught in the reins of Preemptive before the running of The Gold Rush at Bendigo in 2016.

A badly broken leg forced the 25-year-old from the saddle for several months and it took some time for him to find his rhythm in the riding ranks after recovering.

But last season was a standout, with McNeil securing the Victorian Jockey Premiership, driving far and wide to ride winners across the state during the pandemic.

Now he has scaled the greatest peak in Australian racing.

McNeil, who Williams rated months ago as the best young rider in the land, has come a long way after growing up on the banks of the mighty Murray River.

The Melbourne Cup-winning jockey learned to ride horses trained by either his father, Darryl, or his uncles near Koondrook, weaving them through the redgums on the river bank as a boy.

“I always had one or two horses in work, out in the back, and the boys learned by riding along bush tracks, dodging kangaroos and emus,” Darryl McNeil told The Australian.

Darryl was baling on the family property on Tuesday but he cut short his work day to join his wife Michelle and a couple of friends to watch one of the greatest editions of the race.

Darryl thought Twilight Payment might get swamped heading into the straight. But then his wife started hollering as her son still led passing the famous Flemington Clocktower.

“Being off a farm, he learned to work really hard, so I always knew he had the work ethic to go as far as he wanted to go,” said Darryl.

“He is a pretty relaxed sort of fella, but he has got good people around him. He had a great season last year but to win the Melbourne Cup, I am still shaking my head.

“Oh mate, we are over the moon up here. I am still shaking.”