Protectionist has claimed his first victory in the Melbourne Cup this afternoon and delivered the first Cup win for Germany.
The win in front of around 100,000 punters at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne today sealed predictions he was "bred to win the cup". It was a close race until about 150m out when Protectionist out-sprinted the rest of the field coming home around five metres clear of second place Red Cadeaux.
Auckland Cup winner Who Shot Thebarman placed third.
Protectionist, trained by Andres Wohler, becomes the fifth northern hemisphere-trained horse to win the race since Vintage Crop scored in 1993.
The horse was ridden by English jockey Ryan Moore, who won the Cox Plate on Irish galloper Adelaide.
"He's won very easy, that's a very good horse," Moore said.
"Obviously it's very special."
Starting with Japanese stayer Admire Rakti's win in the Caulfield Cup, the Melbourne spring carnival has belonged to the internationals.
But Protectionist's win has ensured there is cause for Australian celebration after the nation's greatest horse race.
The five-year-old is part-owned by Australian Bloodstock, the syndicator which raced the 2011 Melbourne Cup placegetter Lucas Cranach.
Source: ONE News and The New Zealand Herald
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