Viewed – The New Melbourne Cup Champion
There were quite a few nervous moments before and during the running of the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, as a great number of European horses were entered into this year’s race. Hosted by Flemington Racecourse, the Melbourne Cup is known to be one of the premier horse racing events on the racing calendar of Australia, and with seven of the contenders being overseas entries, the pressure for a local horse to win could almost be felt. And Australia was not disappointed, as Viewed, trained by legendary trainer Bart Cummings, finished in first place.
When Light Fingers won the 1965 Melbourne Cup, it was the first of twelve Melbourne Cup victories. In 1999, he won his last Melbourne Cup with Rogan Josh and has become an iconic trainer in Australia. Cummings, getting ready to celebrate his 81st birthday, also has his 250th Group 1 victory in the bag now, and horse racing has been a very successful and fulfilling career for him. The choice of giving Blake Shinn the opportunity to ride Viewed on Tuesday was the perfect decision, and most likely a moment Shinn will never forget.
Riding for a trainer such as Cummings is a massive responsibility and honor, and there is no doubt that the twenty-one year old jockey did feel some pressure when swinging into the saddle. But he kept his composure and steered Viewed to a magnificent victory. Shinn and Viewed ran a perfect race, and in the last four hundred meters, Viewed took the lead. Corey Brown urged Bauer to chase down Viewed, but Viewed managed to hold onto his position to the very end. Shinn spoke to the press after the race saying: “To win the Melbourne Cup for a living legend in the sport like Mr. Cummings is a great thrill.” He went on to say, “I hit the front earlier than I would have liked to but he had the going,” Shinn said. “The last 10 seconds was long. I thought, ‘I’ve gone too early, I’m going to get beat.’ But the horse kept his momentum. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Viewed was followed home by Bauer, C’est La Guerre, Master O’Reilly, Profound Beauty, Moatize, Mad Rush, Nom Jeu, Zipping, Newport, Ice Chariot, Guyno, Littorio, Varevees, Boundless, Red Lord, Prize Lady, Septimus, Barbaricus, Alessandro Volta and Honolulu.