Twilight Payment produces 'incredible' race to win Melbourne Cup

Joseph O’Brien edges father Aidan once again, with pre-race favourite Tiger Moth settling for second and Prince Of Arran taking third

Jye McNiel on board Twilight Payment returns to scale after winning race 7 the Lexus Melbourne Cup during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. Getty Images for the VRC

Jye McNeil celebrates with the trophy after winning the Lexus Melbourne Cup. Getty Images for the VRC

Jye McNeil and stable representative Mark Power celebrate with the trophy after their horse, Twilight Payment, won the Melbourne Cup. AFP

Jye McNeil riding Twilight Payment leads the field around the first bend in the Lexus Melbourne Cup. Getty Images for the VRC

The field jumps from the barriers during race seven of the 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse. Getty Images for the VRC

Bonnie Anderson sings the Australian National Anthem before the running of the 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Kerrin McEvoy riding Exhilarates wins the Mss Security Sprint during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Michael Dee riding Rich Hips wins The Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Craig Williams riding Purple Sector wins the Furphy Plate during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Punters react as they watch the Melbourne Cup on the big screen at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. Getty Images

William Pike riding Outrageous wins the Grinders Coffee Roasters Trophy during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Damian Lane riding Ain'tnodeeldun beats Noel Callow riding Confrontational to win the Tab Trophy during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup. Getty Images for the VRC

Luke Currie riding Sin To Win wins The Macca's Run during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Craig Williams on board Alleboom wins the Schweppervescence Plate during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Melbourne Cup trophies won by Makybe Diva are on display during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Declan Bates riding No Restriction wins the World Horse Racing stakes during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Luke Nolen riding Finance Tycoon wins the Darley Maribyrnong Plate during 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day. Getty Images for the VRC

Punters watch the spectator-free Melbourne Cup horse race from a distance as they picnic in a park overlooking the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. AFP

Jye McNeil was left feeling "overwhelmed" after guiding Twilight Payment to  victory in the Melbourne Cup on his debut appearance at the prestigious Australian horse race on Tuesday.

Twilight Payment's triumph at Flemington racecourse landed trainer Joseph O’Brien his second Melbourne Cup in four years, while presenting a seventh success in the race for owner Lloyd Williams.

Joseph’s father Aidan had to once again settle for a runner-up finish behind his son after Irish Derby victor, and pre-race favourite Tiger Moth failed to reel in the winner. It followed a similar pattern as the 2017 Melbourne Cup when Joseph’s Rekindling beat Aidan's Johannes Vermeer.

Prince Of Arran, trained in the UK by Charlie Fellowes and with Jamie Kah atop, ran another superb race to take third in the silks of Emirati businessman Saeed bel Obaida.

But the race belonged to Twilight Payment and McNeil, who went to the front soon after the start, trailed by Tiger Moth and closely followed by Vow And Declare, last year’s winner, and Oceanix.

Tiger Moth dropped down the order and then picked up towards the end, but Twilight Payment stayed the stronger for a half-a-length victory.

Prince Of Arran, who was third in 2018 and runner-up last year, was a further head behind in third.

“I’m absolutely stoked I could pull it off,” an ecstatic McNeil said. “There’s too many emotions, it’s a very big moment.

“I’m not worried about the [empty] grandstands at all. To get the opportunity to partner Twilight Payment, it’s very overwhelming.

“It was the plan to always be forward. Obviously with where he was in the market I wasn’t feeling a lot of pressure, but when you have got to go forward there is some pressure to get it right. Thankfully, it all came together.

“I was trying to use my voice to encourage him as much as possible to hang on, and he was very tough.”

O'Brien, who was watching from home in Ireland, said it was “incredibly special”, adding he would have loved to have been at the racecourse to witness the win.

“Jye gave the horse an incredible ride and credit has to go to Lloyd and Nick Williams, they really felt this horse had a big chance in the race this year," O'Brien, 27, said.

“Mark Power, Sean Corby and my team of lads that have been down in Melbourne for the last number of weeks have done an incredible job with not only him but all the horses that we have there. They presented them in fantastic condition and credit has to go with them.”

The race was sadly tarnished by the death of Aidan O’Brien’s Anthony Van Dyck after the 2019 English Derby winner suffered a fractured fetlock. It is the seventh death in the race from the past eight years.