Racing: 10/1 Almandin Wins Melbourne Cup Thriller

MELBOURNE, Nov 1, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 01st Nov, 2016 ) - Almandin pipped Heartbreak City in a thrilling finish to the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, giving Australian owner Lloyd Williams a record fifth win in the 'race that stops a nation'.

The former German galloper, starting at 10/1, edged Ireland's Heartbreak City (18/1) after a stirring run at Flemington to give jockey Kerrin McEvoy his second Melbourne Cup, 16 years after his first.

The 9/2 race favourite Hartnell, one of five Godolphin runners, was third, 4-1/4 lengths back in the Aus$6.2 million (US$4.7 million) international race over 3,200 metres (two miles). It was a second Cup triumph for local trainer Robert Hickmott, who nursed Almandin back to racing health after 18 months out following a tendon injury after acquiring the seven-year-old gelding in Germany.

McEvoy, who won his first Melbourne Cup with Brew in 2000, got Almandin home from the Tony Martin-trained Irish stayer Heartbreak City, ridden by Hong Kong-based Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira. "Lloyd, he knows what to do in these staying races.

It's just a dream. It's great to be part of it again for my second Cup," McEvoy said. His wife Cathy Payne, whose sister Michelle became the first female jockey to win on Prince of Penzance in last year's Melbourne Cup, is due to give birth to the couple's fourth child and he thanked her for "putting up with me the last few weeks".

The win made Williams, 76, the founder of Melbourne's Crown Casino, the most successful owner in Melbourne Cup history following his previous successes with Just a Dash (1981), What a Nuisance (1985), Efficient (2007) and Green Moon (2012).