Crying on a racecourse is nothing new for trainer Mark Kavanagh.
But for once and on the greatest stage of all these were tears of euphoria, not tears of heartbreak.
Oh how one victory can ease the pain and anguish of countless torments before.
So Kavanagh discovered at Flemington yesterday when Shocking entered horse racing immortality by winning the $5.65million Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Kavanagh epitomises the emotional rollercoaster that is horse racing.
He's experienced the lowest of lows, seemingly more often than most.
But as of about 3.05pm yesterday, he has now also enjoyed the highest of highs.
The images of Kavanagh cheering Shocking to a Melbourne Cup victory will forever be remembered.
The slapping of his hand on the fence, the hugging of his wife, the embrace of the horse's primary owner Laurence Eales.
He wasn't hiding the tears dribbling down his face.
That's just Kavanagh. He lets it all hang out.
''This is a dream I don't wanna wake up from,'' he said, wiping his eyes.
It was also one he'd been waiting a heck of a long time for.
''I've wanted to win this race since I was a six-year-old,'' Kavanagh, 52, said. ''I can't believe I've finally done it. It hasn't sunk in yet.''
Kavanagh has got used to having emotions sink in.
It's just that most of them have been heartbreaking ones.
It had, until yesterday, been a Spring Carnival to forget for Kavanagh, a former jumps jockey from South Australia.
His stable favourite, Maldivian, suffered a campaign-ending injury a fortnight before he was to attempt to defend his Cox Plate crown.
He then suffered the disappointment of Whobegotyou, who started a short-priced favourite in the Cox Plate, finishing out of the placings at Moonee Valley.
Just when things couldn't get much worse in the big races, his Victoria Derby favourite Shamoline Warrior was scratched on race morning on Saturday.
The horse had an elevated temperature.
Kavanagh, too, had an elevated temperature, out of ire.
He wondered what was next for him, what else the bad luck gods had in store.
Shocking then drew barrier 22 for the Melbourne Cup at Saturday night's draw.
Again the trainer thought the world was against him. But things couldn't have turned around any better.
''Spring carnivals are tough for everyone,'' Kavanagh said amid the hysteria of yesterday's victory.
''You've just got to roll with the punches. You've got to focus on what's ahead, not what's passed.''
Shocking paid $9.90 for the win and $3.60 the place on ACTTAB yesterday.
Crime Scene ($10.80) and Mourilyan ($8.20) finished second and third respectively, making for a trifecta which paid $9320.50.
Dividends meant nothing to Kavanagh. For him, it was all about satisfaction.
When Shocking was beaten into second place in the Queensland Derby in June, the horse's owner made no attempt to hide his disappointment. But Kavanagh was looking forward, specifically to the first Tuesday in November.
He's been in the game long enough and endured ample pain to understand one disappointment doesn't end a dream.
''I said to them then that while obviously it was disappointing not to win that race, there were other bigger and better options down the track,'' the trainer said.
''Even on Saturday when [Shocking] won [the Lexus Stakes] I still had him a little rolly polly.
''I knew that run would improve him a lot, no matter what he did in it.
''I wanted the horse to peak today, not two or three weeks or days ago.
''I just won the Melbourne Cup. I reckon he peaked all right.''
Cup day started in controversy when Victorian Racing Club vets scratched the David Hayes-trained Changingoftheguard, saying the horse was lame and unfit to run.
But it meant nothing to Kavanagh.
For once, he was the beneficiary of positive news while somebody else was getting the bad stuff.
It's something he reckons he could get used to.