Cup double for Aussies

"It was the right decision to come but the weight told on Vinnie Roe in the end," said Weld.

"They are two outstanding horses and it was a great race in miserable conditions. The winner is a great mare and would be competitive anywhere in Europe."

Meanwhile, winning rider Boss was fighting hard to stave off tears as he reflected on a race where everything fell into place perfectly for him.

"The only time I've cried like this was when my children were born, but in my working career this is the most special thing that's ever happened to me," he said.

"She felt brilliant underneath me the whole way and when I got to the half mile pole I just felt like I was in the zone again like last year. I felt I was in my own little world where I could do whatever I wanted to do. She was peaked to the minute and never missed a beat the whole way."

Boss took his place in Australian racing history with his second Cup win but heaped all the credit on his partner as he weighed in.

He said: "Makybe Diva is the legend, I'm just the lucky bastard who is sitting on her back. I've never felt anything like what she gave me out there. It's just the most amazing adrenalin rush."

Winning trainer Lee Freedman took over the winner when her former handler David Hall moved to Hong Kong last year and hailed her as "one of the greatest ever to race in this neck of the woods." He added: "To carry that weight to victory on this ground has to make her one of the greats.

"Glen had her a long way back, but he saved a lot of ground by doing that and he told me before the race that if he could hit the front with 200m to run then she would be too strong for them.

"Beforehand it was like having a present under the tree and being told that you couldn't open it. She's done everything we expected of her and more besides and she may go on the world stage to prove herself there as well next year."

Ken Williams, racing manager for the winning owners, the Emily Krstina Pty Ltd Syndicate, added: "To be here two years in a row is unbelievable-Now she surely must be recognised as one of the greatest staying mares and maybe the greatest to race in this country. She's never run a bad race in her life and we are very privileged to have her. We will be back next year, this is just the beginning."

Britain's efforts to win Australia's most famous race continue to end in honourable failure, but Distinction was staying on as well as anything in the closing stages and Stoute felt that things could have been different granted more positive tactics from local rider Darren Beadman.

"He just got too far back," said Stoute, while Kerrin McEvoy felt that the soft ground was the main reason for Razkalla's failure.

Melbourne result

1. Makybe Diva (13-5fav)
2. Vinnie Roe (5-1)
3. Zazzman (100-1)
4. Elvstroem (15-1)