With his wife and children watching on, Damien Oliver guided home a winner at his final Caulfield Cup meeting.
Oliver announced his retirement from riding at the start of the Spring Carnival and will bow out after competing at the Perth Summer Carnival in November.
Unfortunately for Oliver he was unable to add to his haul of four Caulfield Cups as he watched on from the jockeys’ room with limited horses in his weight range to secure a ride.
Oliver was at his best when he guided Arkansaw Kid to victory in the Listed Gothic Stakes (1200m) on Saturday, but before officially being able to add to his tally at Caulfield, Oliver and Arkansaw Kid had to survive a protest from Damian Lane aboard the runner-up Facile.
Lane alleged interference at the 200m mark, but after a short deliberation, Racing Victoria Stewards dismissed the objection.
Arkansaw Kid ($7.50) scored by a head from the $2.70 favourite with bookie sites Facile with Don Corleone ($4.80) a short-head away third.
Wife Trish along with children Zara, Nicole and Luke watching from the mounting yard, Oliver guided Arkansaw Kid from a position on the rails to edge into clear running with 200m to run.
“You can’t beat these big days,” Oliver said.
“The crowd, the weather, and it’s great to have my family here, too.”
The Ben, Will and J D Hayes-trained Arkansaw Kid pulled-up with heart fibrillation when down the track first-up over 1100m at Flemington on September 16.
Hayes said the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on November 4 would now come under consideration for the sprinter.
“The application of the tongue-tie helped him breath properly and we saw the real horse he is,” Ben Hayes said.
“We resisted running him down the straight (Flemington) again and at this stage it worked out, so hopefully, we might be able to try again in the Coolmore, but we’ll see how he pulls up.
“That might be the direction we head with him. It would be a bit of fun.”
