In a red-letter day for South Australian racing, Hucklebuck was the state’s fifth victory on Saturday and Stokes’ third winner of the day.
Having settled behind the speed after The Cleaner set a strong pace from the outset, Hucklebuck accelerated midway down the straight and held off a strong last-ditch challenge from Lucky Hussler to claim the win. The Cleaner held on for third.
“I managed to peel off and get a nice run and once I pulled out I thought he’d be very hard to run down,” jockey Dom Tourneur told Racing.com.
“The horse has been brilliant to us. His record should read better than it is but and he was a bit friendless (in the betting) today and he’s come out and shown us what he’s made of.”
In the other major race of the final day of the Melbourne Cup carnival, Terravista upset pre-race favourites Slade Power and Chautauqua to triumph in the Darley Classic.
The 1200m race had been billed as a head-to-head contest between Europe's premier sprinter - Slade Power - and Australia's up-and-coming flyer - Chautauqua - who had won his other two races this season.
But it was Terravista that claimed victory in the race, ahead of Chautauqua and Lankan Rupee, with Slade Power finishing well back in 11th position.