2006 Melbourne Cup
# 2006 Melbourne Cup

   Delta Blues in front again from Mandela, 300 left to go, Maybe Better coming on, Zipping battlingly strongly, Pop Rock joining in. Delta Blues in front at the 200, Pop Rock his danger on the outside. Delta Blues by a length, Pop Rock coming at him, Japan 1-2. Oliver weals the whip. Pop Rock trying to get to Delta Blues. Delta Blues and Pop Rock they come to the line oh very close, Delta Blues maybe a nose to Pop Rock, very little between them!

Commentator Greg Miles describes the climax of the race

The 2006 Melbourne Cup was the 146th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over 3,200 metres (1.988 mi), was held on 7 November 2006 at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse.

The winner of the 2006 Melbourne Cup was Delta Blues, ridden by Yasunari Iwata, which won by a nose ahead of Pop Rock, with Maybe Better coming in third place.

Field and barriers for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday 7 November after final declarations:

## Field

| Saddle cloth | Form | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Weight |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | x112 | Yeats (4) | Aidan O'Brien (Ire) | Kieren Fallon | 59 kg |
| 2 | 30x3 | Delta Blues(11) | K Sumii (Jpn) | Yasunari Iwata | 56 kg |
| 3 | 5800 | Railings (2) | John Hawkes | Darren Beadman | 55.5 kg |
| 4 | 5511 | Tawqeet (9) | David A. Hayes | D Dunn | 55.5 kg |
| 5 | 7424 | Geordieland (10) | Jamie Osborne (GB) | Frankie Dettori | 54 kg |
| 6 | 4607 | Headturner (19) | John Hawkes | Greg Childs | 54 kg |
| 7 | 3600 | Short Pause (17) | D Hayes | N Callow | 53.5 kg |
| 8 | 8324 | Activation (22) | Graeme Rogerson | Michael Rodd | 53 kg |
| 9 | 5160 | Land 'N Stars (6) | J Poulton (GB) | J Egan | 53 kg |
| 10 | 4960 | Mahtoum (7) | Kim Waugh | Corey Brown | 53 kg |
| 11 | 5056 | On a Jeune (15) | P Montgomerie | Darren Gauci | 53 kg |
| 12 | 11x7 | Pop Rock (12) | K Sumii (Jpn) | Damien Oliver | 53 kg |
| 13 | 1501 | Zipping (20) | Graeme Rogerson | Glen Boss | 52.5 kg |
| 14 | 6948 | Dizelle (21) | J Hawkes | Blake Shinn | 52 kg |
| 15 | 6400 | Ice Chariot (1) | R Maund | J Byrne | 52 kg |
| 16 | x924 | Kerry O'Reilly (5) | Jim Gibbs (NZ) | Cameron Lammas | 52 kg |
| 17 | x220 | Zabeat (16) | D Logan (NZ) | Oliver Doleuze | 52 kg |
| 18 | 0045 | Art Success (13) | J Collins | A Pattillo | 51.5 kg |
| 19 | 7998 | Demerger (23) | Danny O'Brien | Stephen Baster | 51 kg |
| 20 | 2323 | Glistening (24) | Luca Cumani (GB) | S Seamer | 51 kg |
| 21 | 2151 | Mandela (14) | Richard Yuill (NZ) | Craig Williams | 51 kg |
| 22 | 0306 | Dolphin Jo (18) | T and K O'Sullivan | A Spiteri | 50 kg |
| 23 | 5811 | Maybe Better (3) | B Mayfield-Smith | Chris Munce | 50 kg |

Victoria Derby winner Efficient pulled out of the Melbourne Cup lineup early on Tuesday morning with a knee injury, reducing the field to 23 runners. Efficient was aiming to become the first three-year-old since Skipton in 1941 to claim the Derby-Cup double. Tawqeet was inspected by veterinarians early Tuesday after concerns had been raised he may have injured his hoof after pulling the shoe on Monday afternoon.

## Result and Official race times

The official race times and placings as released by the VRC.

| Place | Barrier | Horse | Race Time |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1st | 10 | Delta Blues (JPN) | 3:21.47 |
| 2nd | 11 | Pop Rock (JPN) | 3:21.50 |
| 3rd | 3 | Maybe Better | 3:22.18 |
| 4th | 19 | Zipping | 3:22.43 |
| 5th | 6 | Land 'n Stars (GB) | 3:22.71 |
| 6th | 7 | Mahtoum | |
| 7th | 4 | Yeats | |
| 8th | 21 | Activation | |
| 9th | 13 | Mandela | |
| 10th | 23 | Glistening | |
| 11th | 5 | Kerry O'Reilly | |
| 12th | 2 | Railings | |
| 13th | 18 | Headturner | |
| 14th | 16 | Short Pause | |
| 15th | 17 | Dolphin Jo | |
| 16th | 12 | Art Success | |
| 17th | 20 | Dizelle | |
| 18th | 9 | Geordieland | |
| 19th | 8 | Tawqeet | |
| 20th | 14 | On A Jeune | |
| 21st | 22 | Demerger | |
| 22nd | 1 | Ice Chariot | |
| 23rd | 15 | Zabeat (NZ) | 3:29.75 |
| - | - | Efficient | Scratched |

## Video

* Race video on YouTube
