Sydney - Australia's richest horse race once again held disappointment for the foreign contingent when locally trained Efficient won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday with a come-from-behind victory that thrilled the capacity 130,000 crowd at Flemington racecourse.
The 4-year-old finished less than a length ahead of the favourite, British-owned Purple Moon and Irish horse Mahler.
Efficient's owner, Lloyd Williams, praised jockey Michael Rodd for timing Efficient's run to perfection. 'We wanted to get him out on the outside and realised that he only travels when he's going around horses and when you let him down,' Williams said.
Australians call the Melbourne Cup the race that stops the nation. It's estimated that 12 million of the 21 million Australians watch some of the world's best horses gallop round the 3.2 kilometre course.
A Supreme Court judge sitting in Adelaide allowed a jury to leave the courtroom to watch the 3-minute race. Lawyers and court officials busied themselves with technical matters until the race was over and the jury took their seats again.
Spectators at the Flemington track knocked back an estimated 100,000 bottles of champagne, 40,000 sandwiches and 35,000 meat pies. Organizers reckon the Melbourne Cup draws 30,000 foreign visitors to Australia's second-biggest city.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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