On Tuesday, he was the winning jockey aboard Shocking in the Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

Brown had placed a few times in the race that stops the nation but his defeat last year on Bauer, beaten a nostril by Viewed, only fuelled his Melbourne Cup desire.

He gained the ride on Shocking after only after his initial mount Vigor was left out of the cup field last weekend.

“I thank trainer Mark (Kavanagh) from the bottom of my heart because I rang him through the week, thinking Vigor mightn't get in, asking could he wait for me,” Brown said.

“It was a big ask for the connections to have to wait till Saturday night to book a jockey. To Mark's credit he did and it's history.

“But full credit to the horse. He travelled three wide and I tried to squeeze in over the back but no one let me in. He had no cover.

“I know he had no weight but there was a huge headwind from the 600m home and he was feeling it.”

Shocking, prepared by Mark Kavanagh, had been well supported in betting over the previous 48 hours, despite drawing a wide gate.

Brown had no luck in the run, sitting at least three deep for the entire journey.

But after turning out wide the lightly-weighted stayer showed a superior turn of foot and set out after Crime Scene, who was staying on strongly.

Despite the tough run Shocking drew clear over the final stages to score over the Godolpin-trained Crime Scene, who ran a great race for his connections and gave the stable their third second placing in the race.

South African galloper Mourilyan, prepared by Herman Brown, stayed on strongly for third while Master O'Reilly flew home late to finish fourth – the second year running he has filled that placing.

Harris Tweed ran the race of his life for fifth, ahead of the two favourites, Alcopop and last year's winner Viewed.

Brown couldn't believe he had achieved the feat, given how much extra ground he had covered, but praised the training performance of Kavanagh.

“I've finally won the Melbourne Cup,” Brown declared after the race.

“It's a dream come true. I can't describe it. It's unreal."

Shocking was the first horse since Brew in 2000 to win the Lexus Stakes then the Melbourne Cup three days later.