Irish-born Robbie Dolan enjoyed his finest moment in the saddle when steering 90/1 chance Knight's Choice to a thrilling victory in the Lexus Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
As so often is the case these days, British and Irish-trained horses looked to hold a strong hand in this season's Melbourne Cup. Brian Ellison's Onesmoothoperator and Harry Eustace's Sea King both booked their spot in the race with respective wins in the Geelong and Bengido Cup, joining the likes of the Willie Mullins-trained duo Vauban and Absurde towards the head of the market.
However, it was apparent from a long way out that none of the aforementioned quartet was going to play a hand at the business end as the John Symons and Sheila Laxon-trained Knight's Choice came from well off the pace to nab the Japanese raider Warp Speed in the dying stages.
Absurde fared best of the European quartet in fifth, with stablemate Vauban back in eleventh. Onesmoothoperator finished a further position behind in twelve, while the Hollie Doyle-ridden Sea King finished fourteenth of the twenty-four runners.
Whilst Vauban's handler Willie Mullins left Melbourne disappointed and empty-handed once more, one Irishman left the track filled with pure shock and jubilation.
Robbie Dolan, the once-part-time rider who flirted with a career as a musician added his name to the Melbourne Cup honour roll when he orchestrated one of the great upsets in the history of a 'race that stops a nation'.
Perhaps better known in the Northern Hemisphere for getting to the last 24 in Australia's The Voice two years ago, Dolan, who was also the musical warm-up act on Cox Plate that very same year, left for Australia in 2016 in search of better opportunities.
He experienced great success with Profondo and Shelby Sixtysix, who won Group 1 races in 2021 and 2022, but despite being no stranger to big-race victories, Dolan was left pondering if everything had just occurred was all just a dream.
"Well, pinch me, I think I'm dreaming," gasped the shocked Irishman.
"I can't even put it into words. This is the biggest race in the world, and to win it is just incredible.
"I've never ridden this race before, so I didn't know what to expect, but I feel like I've ridden it 10 times because I've run the race over in my head before I got here.
"It panned out exactly as I thought it would."
Dolan's surprise Cup victory was even more extraordinary when you take into account that the County Kildare native contemplated hanging up his boots to pursue his music career.
"I could have easily given up riding to do the music, but I just loved it too much," he added. "You work so hard not only as a jockey, but just in the racing industry – you get up early hours, long days, long nights, and not a lot of breaks."
"Once I started doing a little bit of music, it was a nice change. I'd just been grafting for 10 years before that. At one stage, I was struggling to get a few rides, and I was thinking, 'gee I might just do the music on the side'. And then I just missed riding winners, I missed the camaraderie of the jockeys in the room."
It was also Dolan's relationship with music that led to him meeting with co-trainer Sheila Laxon.
"I was singing on the Melbourne Cup cruise, and Sheila was there with the Melbourne Cup," explained Dolan. "I met her, and I got a photo with her and the Melbourne Cup, and now we've won the freaking Melbourne Cup."
Dolan won the race in front of his partner Christine and young daughter Maisie, along with his father Bobby who spent decades working for two-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Dermot Weld in Ireland. The 28-year-old's triumph marked a second Melbourne Cup victory in the saddle for an Irishman, 31 years after Michael Kinane landed the spoils aboard Dermot Weld's Vintage Crop.
