The Lee Freedman-trained colt Common Interest has won the fifth race on Melbourne Cup Day, the Schweppes Tonic 1000m sprint.
The race had a rocky start after the electronic remote to release the gates malfunctioned and the three-year-olds had to be backed out. Eventually a manual button was used to release the barriers – the kink ironed out luckily before the feature race of the day.
The very short-priced favourite going into the race, the Mark Kavanagh-trained Definitely Ready at $1.70 ridden by Michael Rodd flew mid-field. Showing superior speed he secured a three length lead but puffed himself out.
Definitely Ready began to tire just inside the 200m when Dwayne Dunn aboard Common Interest chased down the leader and got up to win.
A photo finish for second revelaed Devils Force just ahead of the Darren Weir-trained Broken (ridden by Craig Williams).
The track suited Common Interest perfectly as a dead-straight horse that doesn’t like to turn corners.
A field of only 9 horses contested the race, following the scratching of Rue Maple.
