By Patrick Bartley
Just when it seemed that Australian-bred racehorses were outcasts on the four days at Flemington along came Awesome Rock, who not only kept the first running of the new-look Emirates Stakes trophy in this country, it made for one of the most emotional outpourings seen at headquarters.
After having the Australian Cup taken away from them on protest in the autumn, for trainers Leon Corstens and son Troy Saturday's victory in the $2 million group 1 feature could not have been sweeter.
There was no warning siren on Saturday and once "correct weight" was given connections and the Corstens family heaved a massive sigh of relief.
"I get to see him [father Leon] six and seven hours a day. He's a wonderful man" Troy said.
A big crowd watches on Stakes Day at Flemington.Credit: Quinn Rooney
VRC officals were pleasantly surprised by the attendance on the final day of 70,350.The four-day figure for the carnival was 318,854 - up 5000 on last year - and the carnival provided some stunning performances, but none more moving than Awesome Rock's.
The Victoria Derby went to young James Cummings, who became a fourth-generation Cummings to win the classic, the Melbourne Cup gave Lloyd Williams his fifth victory in the great race and former Melbourne jockey Brenton Avdulla stunned all at Flemington on Thursday with his tearaway win in the VRC Oaks on a 100-1 chance.
And the former Lee Freedman-trained Malaguerra, who is now trained in Gippsland by Peter Gelagotis, took out Saturday's second most important group 1, the Darley Classic, beating the slickest sprinters in Australia.
And the powerful Godolphin stable, although they missed winning the Melbourne Cup, certainly made an impact on the carnivalThe stable collected Saturday's Queen Elizabeth Stakes with Francis Of Assisi, who put to shame his rivals with a 10-length victory in the group 3 event.
Francis Of Assisi, never considered good enough to be entered in the Melbourne Cup, is now lilely to return next spring to tackle the big race, for which he is now fully qualified.
William Buick, who flew in on Friday to ride Scottish in the $2 million Emirates Stakes, only to find the stayer had injured himself and was scratched, gained some compensation with his win on Francis of Assisi..