Posted on 11/02/2004 9:48:44 PM PST by Bandaneira
Punters' joy as Diva gallops into history
Shaun Phillips 03nov04
THREE great forces – wind, water and Makybe Diva – all came together to create an unforgettable Melbourne Cup yesterday.
The Diva raced through driving rain to win for the second year in a row. Some said it was the greatest Cup in living memory.
Everyone agreed with exultant trainer Lee Freedman when he declared the six-year-old was the best staying mare Australia had seen.
And now, with another $2.7 million travelling money, taking total prizemoney to $7 million, Makybe Diva is poised to take on the rest of the world's best in France's Arc de Triomphe.
"It's been a dream of mine to race a horse in the Arc, but I've never had one good enough," Freedman said.
"But this mare is right out of the box."
Freedman took on Makybe when former trainer David Hall left for Hong Kong and is now a four-time Cup winner.
Makybe Diva was backed for a fortune around Australia, and at $3.50 became the shortest-priced Cup favourite to win since Rising Fast in 1954.
It was a two-horse duel in the bookies' ring, with Irish stallion Vinnie Roe briefly challenging for favouritism when the rain came two hours before the great race.
The punters had it spot-on.
"It was probably the meeting of the greatest stayer from the southern hemisphere versus the heavyweight champion from the northern hemisphere," Freedman said.
Glen Boss speared Makybe Diva past 100-1 outsider Zazzman with 200m to go and then held off Vinnie Roe ($6) by 1 1/4 lengths.
Zazzman, ridden by 17-year-old Nicholas Ryan, held on for third.
Boss said he had flashbacks to last year when he chartered Makybe on a dream course to defeat She's Archie, who broke down and finished last yesterday.
"I was in the same position as last year," Boss said.
"Then when she got to the front, I was so confident.
"She's a legend and I'm just the lucky bastard who gets to sit on her."
Boss broke down at the presentation.
"You've got no idea what this means to me," he managed before tears welled and his voice faltered.
The Queenslander also became choked up when he came to thank his wife, Sloane, and young children.
Freedman, too, was emotional, admitting there were days during a rough trot a couple of years back when he struggled to get out of bed.
Owner Tony Santic has his racing base near Geelong, on a farm he brought from Steve Vizard for $5 million.
The mullet-haired tycoon makes his serious money selling tuna to the Japanese. It's not surprising he has an eye on the Japan Cup.
Worth an estimated $200 million, Santic flew more than 50 family and friends – including two of the five office workers who contributed letters of their names to make up Makybe Diva – from Port Lincoln to witness history.
"I just can't believe it – it's going to be such a big party," said his daughter Bianca, 18.
"Makybe is just a legend."
That point is hard to argue.
Makybe Diva yesterday became the first mare to win the race twice.
She is only the fifth horse to win the Cup twice in its 144 years. The last multiple winner was Think Big in 1974-75.
Makybe carried more weight than any other Cup-winning mare in history (55.5kg) and is the first horse to win the Sydney-Melbourne cups double in the same year since Carbine in 1890.
Interviewed after winning race three yesterday, Santic said he felt "terrible".
He wanted some moisture to help his Diva – as did Dermot Weld for Vinnie Roe – but there was none to be had.
It was on the horizon, however, and Santic's prayers were answered an hour later.
What had been perfect conditions became dire.
Sand storms, then rain and 80km/h winds forced revellers to seek cover, creating a mad squeeze in the covered concourses.
More than 13mm fell on Flemington between 1pm and 5pm.
The top temperature was 21.6C at 12.35pm, but the mercury plummeted to 15.6C at 1.23pm when the cold front hit.
It was 11.4C as the horses jumped for the Cup at 3.10pm.
The crowd was 98,161, about 24,000 below last year's record.
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