Equine superstar Winx etched her name into racing history and thrilled a capacity Moonee Valley crowd with her third straight Cox Plate win on Saturday.
The Chris Waller-trained mare, under the urging of her jockey, Hugh Bowman, held out a spirited finish from former Kiwi galloper Humidor to equal Kingston Town's race record of three straight wins in the $A3 million ($NZ3.3 million) weight-for-age event over 2040m.
Humidor and rider Blake Shinn almost pulled off one of the greatest upsets in racing history as they - for a few seconds - looked to be issuing a winning run after getting clear air.
That only meant the capacity crowd and millions watching on TV got to see the rarest of occasions: Winx calling on her deepest reserves to win.
"She had to be good to fight off Humidor and other runners in the race - it was a fair dinkum Cox Plate,'' Chris Waller said in his post-race interview.
"She was obviously in for a fight. It was not an easy victory, but you do not come to these races expecting to win - believe it or not.''
Equalling the mighty Kingston Town's race record was only one of a series of records the glamour mare would claim with her victory.
Winx stopped the clock at 2:02.94 to break her own race and track records, set in her 2015 win, by 0.04sec.
The win also officially placed the Street Cry mare's name beside those of the recent greats of the Aussie turf: unbeaten sensation Black Caviar and three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.
She also equalled Black Caviar's Australian record of 15 group 1 wins and exceeded Makybe Diva's Australian stakes earnings record of $A14.52 million.
Her record-breaking win was summed up perfectly by rider Hugh Bowman, who came back to scale without his skull cap after throwing it into the feverish Moonee Valley crowd, in his post-race television interview.
"She will now go down in history as one of the greatest horses to ever grace the Australian turf.''
The always cool and calm Bowman said the pressure that built leading into his mare's chance at history was unavoidable.
"This horse means so much to so many people and she has taken us all on a great ride, and there is a lot of pressure, or responsibility, that comes with that.''
Runner up Humidor surged into $7 Melbourne Cup co-favouritism, with Almandin, on the back of his brilliant second placing.
Almandin may be in need of a new rider after Damian Oliver was outed until November 16, nine days after the Melbourne Cup, on an improper riding charge.
Aboard Happy Clapper, he made heavy contact with Royal Symphony and jockey Dean Yendell early in Saturday's race.
Oliver will face an appeal hearing this afternoon to attempt to fulfil his cup engagement on last year's winner.
Otago-bred stayer Who Shot Thebarman clinched a start in next month's Melbourne Cup by winning the Moonee Valley Cup over 2500m.
The evergreen Yaminin Vital 9yr-old secured his spot in the field for the famous 3200m race by holding off the challenge of his Chris Waller stablemate Libran.
Though the White Robe Lodge product has been a constant feature in Australia's staying races for the past three seasons, yesterday's win was his first in almost two years since he won the 2015 Zipping Classic.
This year's attempt will be Who Shot Thebarman's fourth Melbourne Cup tilt. He finished fifth last year, 11th in 2015 and third in 2014.
