Read the comments from each of the jockeys about their rides in the 2024 Melbourne Cup raced at Flemington on Tuesday 5th November.

Winning Jockey: Robbie Dolan

On winning the Melbourne Cup: “Well, pinch me. I think I’m dreaming.”

“It’s incredible. I just can’t believe it. I I don’t even know what to say.”

“I can’t even put it into words. This is the biggest race in the world, and to win it is just incredible. I’ve got my family here, my partner, Christine, our little baby, Macy. My dad flew over from Ireland, and now you got me in tears.”

Pre-race thoughts: “I watched every Melbourne cover the last 40 years the other night. I just thought my best chance is if I get him to stay the trip and hopefully he can rattle home and quicken up them, good sectionals that he can do on a good track, and he just proved everybody wrong.”

Riding in first Cup “I’ve never ridden this race before, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I feel like I’ve ridden it ten times because I’ve run the race over in my head before I got here. It panned out exactly as I thought it would.”

How the race unfolded: “I thought I’d be a pair closer, but they went quick. I just rode him for luck because I know he’s got a good turn of foot. What a training performance.”

“There wasn’t enough room for me to come outside. So I decided to cut the corner. I heard Kerrin (McEvoy) giving me a call along the inside. I initially would have went for the run that he went for.

“He was going a little bit better than me. Once my horse spotted the gap and he sort of changed leads, and he just sort of picked up on me. Once I pulled the stick through, he found another gear again. He’s only a small little horse, but he gives his all every start, and that’s half the battle with him, I think and he’s proved a lot of people wrong.”

On John Symons and Sheila Laxon/Confidence pre-race: “You can’t do it without the trainers like Sheila and John. They were so confident in this horse even before he got to this race and a lot of people doubted them. To be honest, I didn’t. I really liked his run the other day at Bendigo. He hit the line really well and was unlucky not to be placed.”

Beaten Jockeys:

William Buick (Vauban): “I was a bit further back than ideal. He travelled well the first half of the race, and I had to hold my position. He came off the bridle far earlier than I expected from him.”

Joao Moreira (Buckaroo): “Didn’t have the best of the runs because he was actually too wide. It was hard to get in. He had to travel a little bit wide. He still had cover, but the distance probably just stretched him too much, and the last little bit, he started getting tired. So I’d say he couldn’t really run the distance.”

Mark Zahra (Circle Of Fire): “He ran well. Good, tough effort.”

Akira Sugawara (Warp Speed): “The plan was to go a bit more forward, but obviously he couldn’t. Then we just changed to Plan B, which was what we always had in the mind. We watched many Melbourne Cups of the past, and we could come from the back. We got him into real rhythm, good rhythm and went through the field, and it was a really good run.”

Damian Lane (Kovalica): “He ran well. Unfortunately, just didn’t quite have the turn-of-foot to go. Between the 600 and the 400. I had to wait. After that he hit the line well. Just lacked a turn-of-foot with that speed but he ran honest.”

Michael Dee (Sharp ‘N’ Smart): “Had a lovely run today, but just didn’t quicken when asked.”

Jye McNeil (Just Fine): “He acquitted himself well today. Just struggled at the two miles.”

Zac Purton (Land Legend): “He was much more manageable than at Caulfield, but still wanting to go 10% too fast the whole way. Really good effort.”

Kerrin McEvoy (Absurde): “He ran fantastic. He got in a nice rhythm. He relaxed well. I just sort of cut the corner and switched a couple of times up the running, but he was finishing really well the last bit.”

Jamie Kah (Okita Soushi): “Fantastic run. Couldn’t have asked for anything more from the horse. Got me a bit excited at the 200 (metre mark). I thought he was going to hang on, but he’s just a genuine one-pace horse, but couldn’t ask for anything more of him.”

Craig Williams (Onesmoothoperator): “I was happy the way his prelim was, but once we placed him under pressure in the race today, he just wasn’t quite at his best. Interesting to see how he comes through the run.”

Andrea Atzeni (Zardozi): “She ran good. We got a good trip from that draw. She travelled strongly. She picked up nicely. She probably didn’t quite get the two miles.”

Hollie Doyle (Sea King): “He’s run alright. He probably overraced throughout, really. The distance probably tested his stamina.”

Craig Newitt (Valiant King): “I thought he ran really well, just got caught a little bit wide early. Got into a nice midfield position, travelled really well. I think if the track had a bit more give in it, he’d finish right in the money.”

Ron Stewart (Fancy Man): “Got a fantastic run from the awkward alley. Followed Jamie Kah (Okita Soushi) throughout. From the half-mile she got on her bike and that suited my horse who ran a really good race.”

Teodore Nugent (Interpretation): “A lovely first half of the race. He travelled really well for me and settled midfield. First week of the race was ideal, just at the business end of things, from the 400 on, he lacked a turn of foot.”

Declan Bates (Manzoice): “Just didn’t stay. Travelled into the race really well got tired late.”

Karis Teetan (Mostly Cloudy): “Had a perfect position from the start, but just the class, not clear.”

Winona Costin (Positivity): “Probably just come up a year too soon. Next year in the race, she’s going to be a lot better. Just wanting to overdo it a few times. Overall, I was happy, but next year she’ll be a big improver.”

Tyler Schiller (Saint George): “He had the right run. He followed the winner (but) just didn’t see the trip out and probably couldn’t get comfortable either with a bit of a stop-start tempo.

Rachel King (The Map): “Tough run from the gate but she was as game as ever.”

Mark Du Plessis (Trust In You): “Got a lovely spot,and he relaxed really well. He was just probably a year away from really finishing off properly.”

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