Kiwi-born jockey Cory Parish stunned punters with his upset win aboard 50-to-one outsider Boom Time in Saturday's 2400m Caulfield Cup.
His victory in the $A3 million ($NZ3.37 million) race was the 28-year-old's first group 1 win and came on the anniversary of the day he settled in Australia five years ago.
On the back of a brutal race tempo, set up by tearaway leader Sir Isaac Newton, Parish plotted a perfect inside path to win on the 6yr-old who is trained by David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
The victory added to the many significant wins by David Hayes and his Lindsay Park stables, but for Parish it was his first big-race success and biggest thrill in racing.
"I couldn't ask for any more. I've been [in Australia] five years now.
"I've been working for David and he owns the whole horse, and he had the faith to put me on today and I said I just want to repay him and I have,'' Parish said in his post-race interview.
Parish rode in his homeland, New Zealand, for 10 years before riding in England and then settling in Seymour in country Victoria.
After initial stints with John Symons and 2001 Caulfield Cup-winning trainer Sheila Laxon, he decided on a move to the Lindsay Park stables.
Boom Time snuck into the Caufield Cup field through an horrific injury to the early favourite, Admire Deus.
Once news of the injury filtered through, David Hayes opted to run Boom Time, who had finished fourth behind Lord Fandango over the same distance in the Herbert Power Stakes the previous Saturday.
"He pulled up well but we weren't going to run,'' Hayes said.
"We were watching trackwork and it wasn't going to be a full field and we thought, let's have a go. We did the sums and if he finished 10th we'd get our money back.''
It was Hayes's third Caulfield Cup and his first in partnership with son Ben and nephew Dabernig.
After the victory Hayes signalled Boom Time would race in the Melbourne Cup.
Kiwi favourite Bonneval never got into contention. She settled well back due to the fast tempo and then never made an impression on the leaders.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained mare, whose lead-up was shrouded by an injury cloud, was found to be lame in her off-foreleg.
"She seems as good as gold but we will probably rest her now. She never really got going and never came into it,'' Baker said.
Her stablemate, Jon Snow, raced handy to the hectic speed before copping a big check 200m from the line between Lord Fandango and Harlem.
Baker was satisfied with Jon Snow who is likely to continue on to the Melbourne Cup.
"We will probably push forward with him. He just had a little bit of trouble getting around the corner and I think he will be better suited to Flemington.''
Like the Caulfield Cup, the weight-for-age Livamol Classic at Hastings yesterday also produced an upset result.
Locally trained 7yr-old Wait A Sec burst along the rail for rider Johnathan Parkes and then held out the late finish of the favourite, Gingernuts, to win for trainers Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen. Gingernuts was a $1.80 favourite on the tote.
