A great day for the Irish and a great day for Lloyd Williams who owned the first two home and the last two home and two others in between.

Joseph O'Brien is 24 and has rounded out his 2017 season with the Melbourne Cup in his trophy cabinet alongside his win in the Moyglare Stude Stakes G1 and his two Irish Champion Jockey trophies for 2012 and 2013. He is the youngest trainer to win the Cup, but it was desperately unlucky for his father's horse Johannes Vermeer when over the last 50m the weight difference became a factor and Rekindling on 51.5kgs could just pass Johannes Vermeer on 54.5.

Willie Mullins had a good cup with Max Dynamite third and his other two runners Thomas Hobson and Wicklow Brave earning prize money for finishing in the top ten.

While there is as usual much being written about the foreign invaders, it was Big Duke who got fourth for Darren Weir.

The fact is that for many years - probably too many years - the whole breeding industry has focused on speed and quick returns with major races such as the Golden Slipper being set for 2yos. It takes patience and money to develop a stayer and while Rekindling is a 3yo, he's the first 3yo to win the race since 1941.

But there are no horses around anywhere who can match Phar Lap's efforts from 1930 when he won 4 races in the carnival over a week: Saturday 1st November the Melbourne Stakes over 2000m, Tuesday 4th November the Cup over 3200m, Thursday 6/11 the LInlithgow Stakes over 1600m and two days later the CB Fisher over 2400m.

So if you are critical of the overseas runners coming, remember that they are from places which still value stayers and provide good races for them. If we are to develop our own we need more staying races with good prize money.

Even then there will never be another horse who could repeat Phar Lap's incredible Carnival in 1930.