November 6 - Earlier this week at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, the who's who of Melbourne society gathered under clear blue skies to enjoy Australia's most prestigious and long-awaited thoroughbred horse race, the 2008 Melbourne Cup which, after a nail-biting finish, was won by the racehorse Viewed.

With its 'cream of the crop' 22-horse field from Australia and further afield, punters, bookies and casual visitors alike were all expecting a 'bang' of a race and boy were they not disappointed. The race was scheduled for 24 runners, but Yellowstone and Zarita was scratched due to health problems.

As the Melbourne Cup got underway the massive Flemington crowd craned their necks to see which mount took the lead, which happened to be the heavily touted Aidan O'Brien-trained mount, Septimus. Setting a lightening pace, Septimus lead in the early stages until he was caught by two of his stable mates.

The O'Brien trio of Septimus, Alessandro Volta and Honolulu looked like they were unstoppable, edging into a six length lead over the rest of pack going into the straight. However, Blake Shinn on the Bart Cummings trained Viewed had other ideas as he started to close the gap on the Irish contenders.

Before long Viewed had caught up with the frontrunners and looked like he would be the one to cross the line first with barely two furlongs to go. However, he too was challenged by Bauer who - trained by leading British trainer Luca Cumani - came flying up the outside under the frenzied guidance of Corey Brown.

Neck and neck, Viewed and Bauer crossed the line together, resulting in an anxious photo finish that ultimately gave Cummings - Australia's oldest living horseracing legend at almost 81 - his impressive 12th Melbourne Cup victory. Cummings celebrated his first Melbourne Cup win in 1969 with Light Fingers.

Said the champion trainer after the race, 'Someone once told me that I have made a habit of winning this race and I replied that it was a good habit to get into. I feel very sorry for Luca Cumani as the runner-up, but it's always great to see the Aussies succeed. It was so close I thought it might have been a dead heat.'

With Bauer awarded second, C'est La Guerre took third, Master O'Reilly fourth and Septimus finished way down the field. Equally happy with the result was 21-year-old wining jockey Shinn who said, 'Viewed put in 110 percent today and while I got to the front way too early, he really dug deep and gave his all.'

Viewed won the 2008 Melbourne Cup in a time of 3.20.58.

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2011/12/09 12:48:42 AM