THE MELBOURNE CUP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 260, 7 November 1906, Page 7

THE MELBOURNE CUP.

WON BY POSEIDON. SOLUTION BEATEN BY TUB DISTANCE. (By Cable.—Press Association Copyricht.) (Received 8.52 a.m.) MELBOURNE, this day. It was a grey day on whleb the Cup wae rim—a grey sky, grey showers of raJn, an overshadowing tinge of grey in the costumes. But. with the exception of a slight drizzle now and ttiere was scarcely suflicicnt rain to drive the ladies to slieJter. The uncertainty in the weather, however, had one telling effect, it was not a brilliantly coloured Cup nay of blue skies and golden su;:~Mne. It it, estimated that ninety thoireaud people were present. The Jiill covered with a don.se swaxm in every part. All corners of the Continent and New Zealand had sent their quota'to seethe, great race. There were people from Europe, America, India, and Japan.. There was .1 high official from the Pacific Islands, and a mandarin from the Court of Peklri.

If there vas one candidate which engaged more atom inn than another," It was Poeei(loii. but Solution did not lack admirers. As fast as one mob moved away their places filled again and agaiu. Her numerous supporters were quite satisfied that the trainsr (Lowe) had done his share of work well. It was generally expected that Soludon would undertake the task of trying to win the Cup from wid to end, and the. "man-in-the-street" appeared to know that these were the instructions issued to Hewitt, wuo came hurriedly from New Zealand, to ride her. In the ring;, So:ution: Poseidon, nnd Noreen monopoiised the bulk of attention. and money was pilrd ou so heavily, as to suggest that the partisans of each were jealous lest the other might have the largest following.

Those who guessed that Solution would tr yto win all the way were trap prophets, for she was out in front Immediately after starting, and remained there, varying her lead between one and three lengths, until the home turn was rounded, where, in the immediate distance, were Noreen, Poseidon, Wnudin and Booran.

For a moment in the straight Solution appeared to bo going well within herself, butin a twinkling Voseidon shook off Noreeu, Booran, Waudin, and charged at the NewZealand mare, which, after a short struggle, went all to pieces. In the nest half furlong Poseidon set up a lead of three lengths. Then the race was as good ac over, but Clayton did not give Poseidon an opportunity to slow dowu, and, ridins him right out. won by nearly a length from the fast finishing Aiitonlpus, which cleverly heat Proceed. Dyed garments was fourth, so New South TV ales supplied the first three.

Solution showed herself to be not partial to the distance, and though Noreen was well placed in the straight, she failed to maintain the pace demanded. The surprise of the race was the prominent position occupied by Antouious, which camp from the rearguard position, aDd finished at a tremendous rate. He was not quite so fortunate in the race as Poseidon, which had a nice run on the rails .all the way, and went over no more ground than was necessary.

There was tremendous cheering as Poseidon returned to scale. He won his race la great style, and his victory was even mote decisive than his success In the CauMeld <-up or the Derby,

The field was one oC the smallest for many years, and the time, :5m 31J S , was tile slowest since IS9S: but the ground was-.no-u at nil favourable to fast time, ai.il thefailure to attach records should not detract from the merits of the performance, for I useidon is one of the best colts the Austialiau turf has had for many years The following are the details-—

THE MELBOURNE CUP, .1 handicap sweepstakes of 30sovs each, with SOOOsovs added; second horse to receive lOOOsovs, and the third 500sovs out of the stake. Two miles.

Mr U. R. Robertson's b c Poseidon, -3yrs, by Posltano—Jacinth 7.6 (including 12lb penalty) (Clayton) 1 Mr J. Minister's b c Antonlous, 3yrs, by Sir Foote—Antonla, 7.9 (Turner).. 2 Mr J. Brown's b or br g Proceed aged, by Pilgrim's Progress—Progression, 7.9 (McLachlan) 3 Messrs P. and W. Mitchell's b g Dyea Garments, syvs, by Malvolio—Bozra,

Also ran: Dividend, 9.5; Blue Spec, 8.9; Czarovitch. 8.5; Solution (including Ml) penalty), 8.4; Demas, 5.3; Tatterdemalion, 8.2; Ossian, 7.12; Noreeu, 7.7; Ebullition, 1.7; Simoda, 7.3; Zepho, 7.3; Delaware, 7.1: Melodeon, 7.0: Wandln, 7.0; Charmant 6.U; Booran, 6.0; Ellis, (5.9; Mira, 6.7. Betting: 7 to 2 Solution, 9 to 2 Poseidon, 11 to 2 Noreen. 10 to 1 Proceed, 12 to 1 Blue Spec, 14 to 1 Wandin, 15 to 1 Antonious and Ossian, DO to 1 Dyed Garments.