2018 Melbourne Cup

The 2018 Melbourne Cup (known commercially as 2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup) was the 158th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race was run over 3,200 metres (1.988 mi) on 6 November 2018 at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

2018 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
LocationFlemington Racecourse
Melbourne, Australia
Date6 November 2018
Winning horseCross Counter
JockeyKerrin McEvoy
TrainerCharlie Appleby (UAE)
SurfaceGrass
Attendance83,471[1]

300 to go, it's Finche, with A Prince of Aaran on the outside, Rostropovich is running on and Marmelo back to the inside too. A Prince of Aaran at the 200, Marmelo wearing it down, Marmelo gets up on the inside and here comes Cross Counter. Cross Counter coming at Marmelo, Cross Counter's flying, the blue army have done it at last!

Commentator Matt Hill describes the climax of the race

Lexus commenced a five-year naming rights sponsorship deal, taking over from Emirates.[2] It was the last Melbourne Cup broadcast by the Seven Network before Network Ten takes over in 2019.[3]

The race was won by Cross Counter, ridden by Kerrin McEvoy and trained by Charlie Appleby.[4][5]

Field
Number Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Placing
1 Best Solution Saeed bin Suroor (UAE) Pat Cosgrave 6 8[6]
2 The Cliffsofmoher Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) Ryan Moore 9 Did not Finish
3 Magic Circle Ian Williams (Great Britain) Corey Brown 17 16
4 Chestnut Coat Yoshito Yahagi (Japan) Yuga Kawada 4 14
5 Muntahaa John Gosden (Great Britain) Jim Crowley 13 9
6 Sound Check Michael Moroney Jordan Childs 16 18
7 Who Shot Thebarman Chris Waller Ben Melham 18 17
8 Ace High David Payne Tye Angland 22 20
9 Marmelo Hughie Morrison (Great Britain) Hugh Bowman 10 2
10 Avilius James Cummings Glyn Schofield 11 22
11 Yucatán Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) James McDonald 23 11
12 Auvray Richard Freedman Tommy Berry 1 21
13 Finche Chris Waller Zac Purton 15 4
14 Red Cardinal Darren Weir Damien Oliver 5 23
15 Vengeur Masque Michael Moroney Patrick Moloney 2 15
16 Ventura Storm David Hayes Mark Zahra 7 10
17 Prince of Arran Charlie Fellowes (Great Britain) Michael Walker 20 3
18 Nakeeta Iain Jardine (Great Britain) Regan Bayliss 3 12
19 Sir Charles Road Lance O'Sullivan (New Zealand) Dwayne Dunn 14 7
20 Zacada Murray Baker (New Zealand) Damian Lane 24 13
21 Runaway Gai Waterhouse Stephen Baster 12 19
22 Youngstar Chris Waller Craig Williams 8 6
23 Cross Counter Charlie Appleby (UAE) Kerrin McEvoy 19 1
24 Rostropovich Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) Wayne Lordan 21 5

Fatalities

Irish colt The CliffsofMoher was euthanised after he suffered a fractured right shoulder.[7]

Horse naming

Some European horses are forced to be renamed if horses with the same name are raced in Australia. Sound Check renamed at Sound, Cliffs of Moher renamed The CliffsofMoher and Prince of Arran were renamed to A Prince of Arran (raced at Prince of Arran on 2019 and 2020 Melbourne Cup). Sound Check were permitted raced at original name on Melbourne Cup.

Penalties

After the races, 6 jockeys were fined.

Hugh Bowman was cited on three separate charges in the $7.3 million race - an incident of careless riding at the 500m, excessive whip use prior to the final 100m and the fact that he weighed in more than half a kilogram over his prescribed weight of 55 kg aboard runner-up Marmelo.

Kerrin McEvoy was fined $3000 after using the whip nine times - four more than what is permitted under the rules - on Cross Counter in the final 400m of the race.

Jim Crowley and Christine Puls were also suspended for careless riding on the undercard at Flemington.[8]

References
  1. "Track records and Attendances". Flemington.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. Lexus Melbourne Cup's new sponsor Racing.com 13 February 2018
  3. Ten wins Melbourne Cup broadcast rights from Seven Mumbrella 31 August 2018
  4. "Melbourne Cup: 2018 field, form guide and sweep". ABC News. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  5. "Melbourne Cup 2018: Cross Counter takes out the Melbourne Cup". The Age. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. Matthey, James. "Melbourne Cup 2018: Final finishing order" news.com.au, 6 November 2018. Retrieved on 6 November 2018.
  7. "Melbourne Cup: The CliffsofMoher breaks down during run, unable to be saved". Wide World of Sports. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  8. "Hugh Bowman handed hefty suspension".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.