Zipping takes out Australian Cup

By Michelle Draper

MELBOURNE, March 13 AAP - Former Crown Casino boss Lloyd Williams has won the Australian Cup at Flemington with veteran galloper Zipping, a week after a torrential hailstorm forced the $1 million race to be postponed.

The Williams team also fared well in the day's other Group One race, the Australian Guineas, with the grey Linton running third.

But the day also belonged to master trainer Bart Cummings who won his first Australian Guineas with Rock Classic, taking his Group One tally to 258.

However he just missed winning his 14th Australian Cup when his 2008 winner Sirmione was nosed out by eight-year-old Zipping while stablemate Moatize finished third in the 2000-metre feature.

Almost 17,000 people took up the Victoria Racing Club's offer of free admission and flocked through Flemington's gates, although the final figure of 16,853 was slightly below the club's expectations of 20,000.

Williams' son Nick paid tribute to the Macedon Lodge team for Zipping's first Group One trophy, but said Cummings - who has won 12 Melbourne Cups - was always tough competition.

"It's very difficult to beat Bart Cummings as the best of times, it shows how great he is," Williams said.

Meanwhile, Cummings' three-year-old Rock Classic triumphed in the Guineas while odds-on favourite Denman could finish only fourth.

Cummings attributed the improvement in the wayward Rock Classic's performance to the addition of blinkers.

"He's a very, very good horse, he's just learning what to do. I think he's got a good future," Cummings said.

Sharing in the victory celebrations was Rock Classic's part owner, former NSW police minister Paul Whelan.

Victoria Racing Club (VRC) staff had a frantic week readying Flemington for the rescheduled races after last Saturday's hailstorm.

The torrential downpour transformed stairwells into waterfalls and blanketed the track in more than two centimetres of ice.

VRC chief executive Dale Monteith said the VRC's computer system had been replaced along with carpets damaged by water seeping into the grandstands.

"There was an enormous amount of work to be undertaken to get Flemington to the state where people coming here wouldn't be inconvenienced," he told AAP.

"Certainly all the grounds staff have done a wonderful job.

"People coming to Flemington wouldn't know we had that major event last Saturday."

He said the track was rated a dead (4) on Friday and upgraded to a good (3) on Saturday morning.

Compared to last week's washout, Mr Monteith was pleased the sky remained clear and sunny for Saturday's rescheduled event.

"It couldn't be better," he said.

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