Godolphin wins Melbourne Cup 2018 with Cross Counter

Trainer Charlie Appleby, who won days ago in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf with Line of Duty, struck on the other side of the world Tuesday (Monday evening in the U.S.) when Cross Counter tracked down Marmelo in the final strides to win the 2018 Melbourne Cup.

It marked world racing and breeding operation Godolphin’s first victory in “the race that stops a nation” at Flemington.

Jockey Kerrin McEvoy said he was lucky to avoid an incident the first time around in the two-mile race as something went amiss with Aidan O’Brien trained The Cliffsofmoher. The second time across the wire, Cross Counter led the 24-horse field with a late burst down the middle of the course.

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Appleby called this a "bucket list" victory for Godolphin.

"He's risen to the occasion," Appleby said of Cross Counter. "The horse himself, we were confident coming in that we had the right horse."

A setback mere weeks ago kept Cross Counter out of full training.

"We were confident he was well over that," Appleby added. "The ground was a big question mark, to be fair. When you have a master like Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle, you take a lot of confidence into the race."

The final time was 3:21.17 for two miles on soft turf.

Off at 8-1 on the U.S. tote, Cross Counter won his fifth race in eight career starts, while McEvoy recorded his third Melbourne Cup victory. His previous scores came on Almandin (2016) and Brew (2000).

"What a thrill to do it in the blue colors," McEvoy said of winning for Godolphin, which is headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Al Maktoum.

A Prince of Arran ran third with Finche fourth.

Godolphin was represented by three entries in all, also including Best Solution and Avilius.