Racing: Agony follows ecstasy for Seamer

For a jockey who had never ridden in a Melbourne Cup before, Scott Seamer was unshakable yesterday - even when limping into the post-race press conference.

Seamer was thrown from Ethereal when revellers threw streamers at the mare as she was being led back down the rose-lined path into the birdcage by the clerk of the course.

"The clerk's horse reacted worse than Ethereal, and more or less knocked me out of the saddle.

"I got swung around on the ground and the clerk's horse stood on my foot."

Seamer had to forgo the rest of his rides, but the biggest payday in Southern Hemisphere racing was going to cover that very nicely.

The macadamia nut farmer from Ballina in northern New South Wales had finally hit the headlines.

He admitted he had been worried about the track conditions, but a walk around Flemington on Monday night with former jockey Alf Mathews played a vital role in yesterday's win.

"I worked out that the best part of the track was eight horse-widths out from the rail, almost on the crest of the middle section.

"When the rain came, that made that part even more important."

He and Ethereal were trapped three wide throughout the race, but Seamer was unworried because he knew he wanted to aim wide on the bend.

He was the widest runner on the home bend, but he knew what he was doing.

"When the pace went on at the 1200m I was happy.

"When we turned into the straight the leader [Give The Slip] got away on us and I had to be patient."

If there were any doubts about Ethereal not being a natural 3200m horse with stamina to burn, that was the moment they disappeared.

Give The Slip did not weaken - Ethereal had to go out and get her and the sustained sprint she produced was admirable.

Sheila Laxon, in the trainer's stand, was edgy on the home bend. Or at least as edgy as a trainer with a bombproof nature can get.

"I thought she was struggling in the ground on the home turn," she said.

English jockey Richard Hills, having his first Australian ride on Give The Slip, came down the straight hard against the inside rail, a place most jockeys avoided.

Someone at the press conference jokingly, or at least half-jokingly, asked Seamer if he'd shared his information on the best part of the track with Hills.

"No, I'm an interstate rider. I have to work things out for myself, so, I guess, does everyone else."

Sheila Laxon has a lot of time for Seamer and the dedication he showed to move his family to Melbourne - where he had never previously ridden - to "get his eye in" for Ethereal's races.

Seamer was proud that his wife, Louise, and his parents Noelene and Vern were at Flemington for the occasion.

Old Persian Punch did himself proud in running third, echoing his 1998 achievement.

"He did us proud," said English owner Jeff Smith.

"Unfortunately, he's just a fraction too slow to get to the front because of the fast way they run the first half of this race.

"I'd love to win it. Maybe when I'm 109 and when Persian Punch is the oldest horse in the world we might achieve it."

Gololphin's racing manager, Simon Chrisford, said Sheikh Mohammed would send a team back next year.

The stable has won 60 group-one races in 11 countries since its formation eight years ago, and the Melbourne Cup and Kentucky Derby were at the top of its wishlist.

"This horse will be back again," he said, pointing at Give The Slip.