2017 Ladbrokes Mornington Cup Results: Tally Wins

Tally upstaged the well-backed The Gold Trail to win the 2017 Ladbrokes Mornington Cup and claim ballot-free exempt entry into the Caulfield Cup.

Tally got his nose in front at the right time to win the 2017 Ladbrokes Mornington Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos

Tally got his nose in front at the right time to win the 2017 Ladbrokes Mornington Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos

European stayer The Gold Trail was extremely well-backed in the lead-up to the Mornington Cup, but things did not go to plan for jockey Craig Williams and The Gold Trail was caught three wide throughout.

Vengeur Masque took up the running in the early stages of the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup and he fought off The Gold Trail at the top of the straight, but Tally was the strongest over the last 100 metres and he finished over the top of his rival to claim victory.

There was a tragic aftermath to the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup as The Gold Trail broke down after the line and Craig Williams was knocked unconscious after being thrown to the turf and the thoughts of Godolphin stable representative Andy Makiv thoughts were clearly with the fallen horse and rider.

“Andrew rode him perfectly,” Makiv said.

“He got a good run in behind them and he is obviously a very handy stayer.

“He has been placed at Group 1 level over 2400 and it looked a nice race for him.

“He came through the Australian Cup weight-for-age series and if he came up a bit short in late he was going to come here and if he went better in that he would have gone to The BMW.

“This race was ideal for him today and he has got the job done.

“You never like to see (what happened to The Gold Trail) on a race track and most importantly lets hope that Craig Williams is ok.”

The victory of Tally in the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup capped off a massive weekend for the Mallyon family as Andrew Mallyon joined sister Katelyn Mallyon as a feature race winner following her maiden Group 1 win on Silent Sedition in the William Reid Stakes.

Mallyon was quick to offer his thoughts to Craig Williams, but was clearly pleased to have claimed a maiden Group 1 win wearing the Godolphin blue.

“First and foremost I would like to give my thoughts to Craig and his family,” Mallyon said.

“Hopefully everything is ok and it is really unfortunate what has happened.

“It went a little pear-shaped out of the barriers and I wanted to be a little bit closer, but I didn’t jump cleanly and I was a bit hesitant to dig in with the shades back on.

“He relaxed lovely throughout the run and from the 1000 he started to get on the back of the right horses and he was really strong at the end.”

Craig Williams was taken to hospital at the conclusion of the Ladbrokes Mornington Cup and is expected to make a full recovery, but sadly The Gold Trail could not be saved.

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.