Tuesday, November 7, 2006
The Japanese owned Delta Blues ridden by Iwata Yasunari has won the AU$5.1 million 2006 Melbourne Cup. Trainer Katsuhiko Sumii also achieved the Quinella winning bet with stablemate Pop Rock, ridden by Damien Oliver, placing second in the race. Maybe Better came in at third, with Zipping posting a fourth place finish. Pre-race favourite Yeates missed the start, finishing seventh.
After the race, jockey Iwata joyfully shouted “Very happy, very happy. My biggest winner ever.”
Zabeat was the last finisher in a 23-horse field that was reduced in number after the early morning scratching from the race of Efficient with leg soreness.
Australians bet over $50 million dollars on the race, with Delta Blues paying $17.50 for the win, which made it the first horse from Japan to have won the race in the 145 year history of the Melbourne Cup.