Fawkner wins rich Caulfield Cup

Lloyd Williams imports many horses to try and capture the Melbourne Cup each year, but it was a homebred runner that gave the leviathan owner his first success in the Caulfield classic.

Fawkner was given a beautiful run in the race by Nicholas Hall, who produced the $11 chance to score from the English-trained Dandino ($11) while Dear Demi ($26) was third.

Williams's son Nick said Fawkner, who'd never been tried over the 2,400 metres until Saturday, had been set for the Caulfield Cup since last November.

He said following Fawkner's close second in the Emirates Stakes, the stable had accepted an offer to sell the horse but were thankful the deal fell through.

"It's quite amazing ... we had agreed to sell him but they didn't stump up the money," Williams said.

"We were worried that he would be handicapped out of the big miles because he had a great spring last year.

"Dad said: 'I'm glad the bloke didn't pay, because I've been thinking about this and I think we can win a Caulfield Cup with this horse'.

"All credit to him."

Fawkner was hand-picked to be the stable's lone runner in the Cup after Lloyd Williams decided against running the likes of Green Moon, Sea Moon and Seville.

"We're pretty big on setting our horses for their grand finals, and this was this horse's grand final and he's done a great job," Nick Williams said.

"I think it's the hardest race in Australia to win ... just by the nature of the way this race is run there is always hard-luck stories.

"We've had a lot of runners in it over the years and it's just great that we've managed to win it."