Gold Trip, trained by Mark Zahra, wins the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in 2022

The 2022 Melbourne Cup was won by Mark Zahra on Gold Trip, reversing the jockey's previous run of bad luck. With 300 metres to go, the French-bred 6YO, who was odds-on at 18-1, took the lead and held off Emissary, with stablemate High Emocean coming in third. Deauville Legend, widely considered the race's favourite, placed fourth, behind Gold Trip. Earlier, he had come second on I'm Thunderstruck in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley, and before that, he had finished second on the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Gold Trip in the Caulfield Cup. Zahra rode a thrilling race to win the Melbourne Cup for the first time, demonstrating great faith in the staying ability of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace's Gold Trip. When he got back to the scales, though, he admitted that he had never experienced a straight that felt as long as the brutal finish at Flemington, where he was concerned Gold Trip had taken the lead too soon.

“I got to the front a bit soon but he is a horse that, when you go for it, you have to go. You don’t want to give him time to think about it,” he said. “I can’t put this triumph into words. It is unbelievable.”

Maher praised Gold Trip, which finished an unlucky ninth in the Cox Plate before rebounding strongly at Flemington to record its second win from 16 starts. “Obviously I am a bit overcome,” Eustace said. “It is a dream to win it. It is a pinnacle for our sport. I am so grateful to be training with him. This horse, who was so unlucky in the Caulfield Cup … it is quite incredible.”