Updated
The Darren Weir-trained Signoff has sealed a spot in the Melbourne Cup with a win in the Group Three Lexus Stakes on Derby Day at Flemington.
Ridden by Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira, Signoff was given a perfectly timed run to kicked clear and beat the Tony McEvoy-trained Big Memory by three lengths.
La Amistad - a three-quarter sister to galloping great Makybe Diva - was third, a further seven lengths back.
A number of horses - including the second and third place-getters - were trying to earn a spot in the Melbourne Cup with a win in the race over 2,500m.
The David Hayes-trained Unchained My Heart was scratched earlier in the day, after Green Moon's scratching from the Melbourne Cup brought Unchain My Heart up to 23rd in the order of entry.
Shoreham was 24th in the order of entry before the Lexus. It could have guaranteed a start by finishing first, second or third in the Lexus, however Signoff's win and Shoreham's seventh placing meant the horse had to rely on scratchings from the field before final acceptances.
These did not eventuate and Shoreham missed out on the final field.
Of other Cup contenders in the Lexus, the Peter Moody-trained Wish Come True came fourth, Let's Make Adeal was fifth, Like A Carousel finished sixth, Caravan Rolls On finished eighth and Thunderbird One came last.
In the Group One Mackinnon Stakes, Happy Trails won the 2,000m race in a photo finish from He's Your Man - ridden by Moreira - with Farraaj in third.
Happy Trails, ridden by Damien Oliver and trained by Paul Beshara, had finished sixth last start in the Cox Plate, a year on from being the runner-up in the same race.
But there was no disappointment for Beshara this time, as Oliver timed his run perfectly to come down the outside on Happy Trails, going past Farraaj before fighting it out with He's Your Man.
"I'm so rapt. It's great for him to win a big one," Oliver told the Seven Network after the race.
"It's a great thrill to win a big race on Derby Day. Yeah, it's fantastic for Paul and Eric, Pete, all the owners."
Beshara was happy and relieved at the result.
"You could see on the outside he's got it," he told the Seven Network.
"He's won his three Group Ones now and lost a couple too.
"You can't beat it. Second Group One on him for Ollie. Should have had a couple of Cox Plates in there.
"A lot of races you should have but I'm just very, very happy."
The Robert Hickmott-trained Amralah missed out on a start in the Melbourne Cup, after failing to place in the first three in the Mackinnon.
Cup runner Brambles raced in the Mackinnon as a freshener for Tuesday's race - it had a relatively unimpressive Cup trial, however, finishing ninth, 8.9 lengths from the winner.
Topics: sport, horse-racing, flemington-3031, vic, australia
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