‘‘Big races anywhere in the world are special, but this is up with the best feeling I’ve had in racing,’’ Payne said.

‘‘I’ve always thought he was a stayer from the time we got him, but he just went so well as a two-year-old we went to the Golden Slipper and the Champagne.

‘‘We targeted this race and he got the job done. I was concerned about the ground because he is a much better horse on top of the ground, but it didn’t stop him.

‘‘I think he will be better again as a four-year-old because he is just so tough, and you saw that in the straight today.’’

Hugh Bowman produced a gem of a ride, tracking midfield before picking his way though the field to hit the front at 250m. He was challenged by Tupac Amaru and Hooked, but proved he was the strongest stayer, going on to score by a long neck from Tupac Amaru with Hooked three-quarters of a length away in third.

‘‘I was mindful not to overdo it as well, I made sure I had the horse in a nice comfortable rhythm as I did two weeks ago,’’ Bowman said in reference to Criterion's runaway win in the Rosehill Guineas.

‘‘I didn’t think the pace would be as strong, so I tried to just hold my ground from barrier one, and I was able to do that without being too assertive. It was just a case of finding the runs when they came. I was just hands and heels [in the last 100m] because this track is so heavy I didn’t want to unbalance him by pulling the whip. I knew my horse was doing the best he could, and I’m just so proud of him.’’

It was Bowman’s first Australian Derby and gave him the Melbourne and Sydney blue ribbon double after he took out the Victoria Derby, which he won on Polanski in the spring, a horse which was later injured and retired.

‘‘I feel for the owners of Polanski because he was a special horse, but this bloke is in the same class,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘He is a very good horse and he will get better.’’

Darley’s Tupac Amaru was game after making a long run, and he fought back to finish second after Criterion and Hooked headed him in the last 100m. It vindicated the decision to ride him forward and he came again on the line.

‘‘Even though he’s very one-paced he got to them a bit quicker than we thought in the straight, and it’s a position he hasn’t been in too many times,’’ trainer Peter Snowden said.

‘‘He got a bit lost, and when Hughie got to him he came again. Maybe if he waited a little bit longer, maybe not – who knows? He’s run well and I can’t be disappointed.’’

Hooked's trainer John Thompson rued the wet track, which he believed cost his charge the Derby.

‘‘I’m absolutely shattered,'' he said. ''When he comes off the bit he flounders on the wet. We planned to hold him together as long as we could.’’