High praise for valiant Vinnie as Diva delights in Melbourne

THE Dermot Weld trained Vinnie Roe posted possibly the best performance of his career when finishing second to wonder-mare Makybe Diva in yesterday’s Melbourne Cup at Flemington park in front of a crowd of over 110,000.

Makybe Diva took advantage of a perfect rail position throughout, and a traffic-free run off the final bend, to sprint clear of her rivals and become the first mare to record back-to-back victories in the history of the 144 year old race which is now worth $Aus 4.6 million (US$3.5 million).

But in many ways Vinnie Roe’s achievement in finishing second was equally worthy of superlatives. True, the rain which Dermot Weld had prayed for came, and with a vengeance - some media hacks were calling the rainstorm ‘Hurricane Vinnie’, however the six-year-old, who recently won his fourth consecutive Irish St Leger was shouldering top weight of 58 kilos in ground which, by off time, had been downgraded to ‘dead’ and which had left many of the top fancies trailing well before the straight.