Racing: Boss knew Melbourne Cup history was going to be made

Glen Boss called it destiny.

Lee Freedman called it bullshit.

Boss told a packed press conference room at Flemington yesterday that over a drink with Makybe Diva's owner Tony Santic in his hotel bar on Monday night, an almost religious feeling swept over him.

"I looked Tony in the eye, our eyes literally locked and I said: "This is destiny, we'll win this Cup, it's meant to be."

Santic said he felt it to.

"And you know, I haven't stopped feeling it since," said a strangely relaxed Boss after Makybe Diva rewrote the record book in the most remarkable way at Flemington yesterday.

Boss' demeanour, ecstatic on the track after the race, was oddly quiet half an hour later.

"I could see everything in this race 100m before it happened," said Boss in awe of what he was experiencing it.

"At the mile (1600m) I said this race is over, we've won it'.

"I was on the rail and she was beautifully relaxed.

"I don't know how to explain it, but from that point the race unfolded in my mind before it happened.

"I became almost blase. I was so confident"

So confident that Boss admits that, technically, he pressed the button too soon by getting the champion mare into a challenging position at the 450m

"I'd discussed it with Lee (Freedman) and he said that if I found myself in front too soon to get on my bike and make them chase me down.

"She was absolutely cantering when I went up inside horses. She just gives me so much confidence," he said.

"I've never enjoyed a race so much. She was cruising and she did it all."

Not quite. In a masterful display Boss had the mare on the fence mid-field after guiding her over from gate 14.

He then had the job of getting her off the fence which he did at the top of the straight.

There was a moment when he had to shove one out his way, but he kept Makybe Diva balanced and urged her through the gap to clear air and a race to immortality.

"I knew I had done everything right and played the percentages," he said.

"This will top anything I ever do. They should have a national Diva day. She is truly remarkable."

Freedman, the arch pragmatic with occasional spurts of real humour, said he was pleased he hadn't been in the same bar as Boss and Santic on Tuesday night..

"I'd have said bullshit."

That said, Freedman could not wait to praise Boss.

"His Melbourne Cup rides should be bottled. No one could have done a better job over three years."

Freedman watched the Cup from the birdcage bar and Tony Santic from the Emirates hospitality room.

Freedman, reserved by nature, admitted the emotion of the great moment got to him.

"When Glen shouldered a horse out of his way on the bend I thought: 'Oh God, that'll unbalance her.

"But she's like a Ferrari. She just took off.

"I gave her a bit of a shout I can tell you.

"She won easier than she did two years ago when she had just 51kg. That's unbelievable."

Rival trainers also thought so.

Hugely successful John Hawkes, desperate to win his first Melbourne Cup, produced two runners, the well-backed Caulfield Cup winner Railings (14th) and Dizelle (11th), but like the rest of the 106,479 crowd was prepared to clap Makybe Diva back to the birdcage.

"She's the best staying horse you'll see anywhere. Anywhere in the world."