New Zealand trainer Chris Waller sealed a decade of excellence in Australian racing when Verry Elleegant won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday afternoon.
Famous for engineering the record-breaking exploits of Winx, Waller claimed his first Melbourne Cup win as Verry Elleegant beat the favourite Incentivise in Australia's greatest race.
UK-trained stayer Spanish Mission took the minor placing.
Incentivise, one of the shortest-priced favourites in Cup history, looked the winner at the top of the straight but he was no match for Verry Elleegant's late surge under Waikato jockey James McDonald.
The New Zealand-bred horse becomes the first Kiwi horse to win the Melbourne Cup since Prince of Perzance in 2015.
Waller now has in his possession one of Australian sport's most prized trophies to go alongside Winx's four Cox Plates.
He has rewritten all the record books on his way to the top but a Melbourne Cup triumph ranks as the sweetest moment since confirming his arrival among the best in the business.
Waller has won the past 11 Sydney trainers' premierships, trained a horse of a lifetime in Winx and is setting standards that only he is likely to match.
The Melbourne Cup was run in front of 10,000 fully-vaccinated racegoers after Victoria's coronavirus restrictions were lifted in time for reduced crowds during the spring carnival.
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