IT was the moment Tony Price had dreamt about for 30 years - winning the Melbourne Cup - but he couldn't bear to look.
Price and fellow Novocastrian Todd Buckingham are part of the Australian Bloodstock Syndicate which own Gold Trip.
As the import charged down the centre of the Flemington track to win the race that stops a nation, Price had his back to the post.
Gold Trip had been run down to finish runner up in the Caulfield Cup two weeks prior.
Photos: Punters celebrate Mark Zahra's win on Gold Trip in Newcastle
"At the 200 metres I turned the other way and looked at my wife's eye and Jamie Lovett's eyes," Price said. "I let them tell me the result. After the Caulfield Cup I couldn't watch. I looked at their eyes and could see them going yep, yep, yep, boom."
Price's wife, Kelli, nearly didn't make it to Melbourne.
"Kelli's flight from Newcastle on Monday afternoon was cancelled," Price said. "She had to jump in an Uber to Sydney to catch a 10pm flight down. She got in at 1am last night."
Price led Western Suburbs to a hat-trick of Newcastle rugby league grand final wins in the late 1990s. Buckingham played for Waratah Mayfield and Jamie Lovett, who is co-founder of Australian Bloodstock, played at Lakes United.
"We were sparing partners on the footy field," Price said. "Jamie always said he would get me a good horse and he has done it.
Photos: Eighty years of fashions on the field has produced some unforgettable looks
"Bucko was never a good defender, but he put the best tackle on me of his whole career after Gold Trip went across the line. It's pretty special to do it with them. Jamie said to me when he bought it, this is potentially one of the best horses in the world after it ran fourth in the Arc de Triomphe. I want you to buy a share. We were thinking about the Cox Plate then."
Gold Trip was held up for a run and finished ninth in the Cox Plate.
"We knew we had a live chance. You dream about it. Everything was in our favour. We had the rain. The trainers were very confident when we left the mounting yard."
Price and other connections enjoyed a drink out of the prized cup before adjourning to a hotel for further celebrations. He will be back at Flemington on Saturday before returning home and hopes to have some extra luggage with him.
"The Cup will be at the Vacy Hotel," he said. "I live at Bar Beach but have a farm at Vacy and play cricket up there. They will love it."
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