Vow and Declare - the Australian -owned, -trained and -bred horse from the Hunter Valley - has won the 2019 Melbourne Cup, ridden home in a thrilling photo finish.
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The race winner was bred at Scone stud Kitchwin Hills and trained by Danny O'Brien. The four-year-old gelding was sired by stallion Declaration of War and has already collected more than $1 million in prize money.
"For all the late nights and early mornings. For all the call outs and overtime it all seems worth it, breeding the winner of the race that stops a nation," the stud posted to Facebook just after the race.
"Congratulations to his owner/breeder Paul Lanskey."
Second and third place respectively went to Prince of Arran in a stunning photo finish, with Il Paradiso in third and Master of Reality in fourth.
- More to come.
Earlier today: Newcastle trainer Kris Lees has saddled runners in the richest races on turf, but the racing purist says there is still no bigger event than the 3200 metre Melbourne Cup.
Mustajeer - the seven year-old Bay gelding sired from British stallion Medicean - had spent weeks in quarantine at Newmarket and at Werribee, watched over by trusted hand Cameron Swan.
Swan went to England to learn about the horse and oversee his stint in quarantine at Newmarket. After almost three weeks in the UK, Swan travelled with Mustajeer to Australia and spent two weeks with it in quarantine at Werribee.
The former race jockey has since worked and prepared him for new trainer Lees at Caulfield.
Swan is no stranger to a Cup preparation after helping the Lees stable get warhorse County Tyrone to the 2002 and 2003 editions, but the overseas journey has been a new challenge.
"It's been a long haul but it's been good, I've really enjoyed it," Swan said.
"I've missed home and the family obviously, but it's been a good experience.
"I've been with horses to Hong Kong before but never to Newmarket. I got to check out a few stables. Charlie Appleby showed me around his property, and I saw David Simcox's as well.
Off the track, Newcastle's former Miss Universe finalist Tegan Martin was named ambassador to the Melbourne Cup in September.
The 27-year-old glamour, who finished in the top 10 at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami in 2014, has cemented herself as a household name following appearances on some of Australia's most watched television shows including Network 10's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and multiple magazine covers.
Ms Martin is tipping Mustajeer to win, but has said five year-old chestnut gelding Constantinople, a four-year-old Bay stallion sired in Ireland, will perform well.
Closer to home, Newcastle residents have gathered in Islington Park for a 'Nup to the Cup' event with Newcastle Dog Rescue while protestors gathered at Queens Wharf to denounce the race.
In Victoria, dozens of protesters have gathered outside the Melbourne Cup, holding mock horse races and waving placards.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses has organised the protest outside Flemington racecourse on Tuesday amid the bustle of the "race that stops the nation".
A small group gathered along the road are holding placards proclaiming "horse racing kills" and "jumps racing: legalised cruelty".
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