Godolphin robbed again as Crime Scene just fails in Melbourne Cup

Godolphin came agonisingly close yet again in Australia's most prestigious race when Crime Scene was narrowly beaten by Shocking in this morning's Melbourne Cup.

For the third time in the last decade - after Central Park in 1999 and Give The Slip in 2001 - Saeed bin Suroor has saddled the runner-up in the two-mile Grade 1 Flemington showpiece.

It was also the third consecutive year that a British-based challenger has finished second, following on from the Luca Cumani-trained pair of Purple Moon and Bauer.

Despite Crime Scene leading the field into the final two furlongs, Shocking, trained by Melbourne-based Mark Kavanagh, swooped late to win by just under a length.

But jockey Kerrin McEvoy offered no excuses. He said: "He has run a terrific race - I thought I had it won at the two pole but the other horse just worried us out of it in the last 100 yards."

Mourilyan, who has been running with credit in Britain all summer for trainer Gary Moore but recently rejoined South African handler Herman Brown, stayed on well to finish third. The two other British raiders struggled, with Ian Williams's Munsef trailing in 12th and Cumani's Basaltico finishing 18th of 23.