At declaration time for the Caulfield Cup earlier last week leviathan owner, Lloyd Williams, had six horses eligible to start in the race, five were European bred and one sole local.

One may wonder if it was the figures that added up in favour of selecting the local Fawkner, or was it a touch of sentiment as the gelding is by Reset, formerly raced by Williams, he retired the horse to stud unbeaten after five starts.

Irrespective of motive the boss of Macedon Lodge pulled the right rein again, as he has done so many times before, the final choice was Fawkner.

Fawkner was coming off a sound third in the Turnbull Stakes that has proved a fairly reliable guide when looking for a Caulfield Cup winner.

A strong early pace was set by Julienas up the far side of the track; jockeys were still trying to angle into good positions.

At that stage Fawkner was racing midfield; with nine or ten horses in front of him, he had settled down well and would be basically free of any likely interference that might occur.

He powered home in the straight winning by a length and quarter, it was hard to find any excuses for the beaten division.

Nick Hall has ridden the gelding in five of his last six starts, he understands the horse perfectly, that proved an important factor and a deserving win.

The favourite Hawkspur was the only runner to shorten in betting, coming in from $5.00 to start at $4.20, he came out of an awkward gate and was never a chance at any stage, he has been up since June that is a long time, his form may be beginning to taper off.

Jet Away, who had been travelling behind the winner, all of a sudden seemed to take charge of his rider, Damien Oliver, making a suicide run over on the outside that saw him clear of the field well before the home turn.

He hung on well under the circumstances as he had missed a vital run during his Cup preparation, which restricted him to only one pre run leading into the race, it was an outstanding performance finishing fourth.

From a Melbourne Cup point of view the run of Dandino was a cracker, he passed 13 horses in the straight and Flemington will suit him as he is a long striding horse.

The Oaks winner, Dear Demi, also turned in a nice run, she was another that came from a long way back in the field, headquarters won’t do her any harm either.

The crowd of 33,066 was down on the budget of 40,000; about all you can expect with the Cup run at 5.45pm, this did nothing to increase the crowd figure.

Millions saw the Cup on T V, while the gate receipts were well down on a perfect day, the lowest crowd since 1992 when Mannerism won the Caulfield Cup

Fawkner winning the Caulfield Cup.