There was a sour note for the 20-year-old champion New Zealand jockey James McDonald following his brilliant ride for second aboard the outsider Fiorente in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup, won by Green Moon.
McDonald, in his first ride in the Cup, was given a 14-meeting suspension for causing interference to Sanagas when he began to make his run at the 800 metres mark.
But Fiorente's high profile trainer Gai Waterhouse was full of praise for a great tactical ride by McDonald, who will be appealing against his suspension.
The winning jockey Brett Prebble has been an idol of McDonald since the Australian visited McDonald's faher's stable in Matamata 10 years ago.
