As the barriers burst open for the Melbourne Cup, Kayla Nisbet was sitting in the jockeys room at Thoroughbred Park with her eyes glued to the television.
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It's the race that stops the nation but as punters filled their champagne flutes to the brim, Nisbet was cheering on her brother-in-law Tommy Berry between races.
Berry rode Youngstar to 20th in the Melbourne Cup, but as soon as he crossed the line it was back to business for Nisbet in Canberra.
"I lost count towards the end," Nisbet laughed.
"He looked like he was going to win for a little while there.
"It was really exciting. We always like watching Tommy ride in the Melbourne Cup.
"Usually our races coincide with each other so I don't get to watch him in the big races. In days like this, when we have big breaks I do get to watch him."
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Nisbet's mother and sisters joined thousands of punters at Thoroughbred Park on Tuesday, while she linked up with her father in race three.
The 25-year-old jockey rode the Ron Weston and John Nisbet-trained Maddie's the Boss in the benchmark 65. The six-year-old mare held a two-race winning streak but finished fourth in the 1600 metre race.
"She was a little disappointing but it's still good to ride for dad," Nisbet said.
"When you ride winners for your family it's quite special, so it would have been nice to win but it wasn't to be."
Luke Pepper-trained Fox Beat won his first race in 11 months when he finished first in the class one (2000 metres), narrowly beating Olmeto by 0.34 lengths.
The victory marked his fourth start with stable and Pepper believes there's plenty more wins in stall for the five-year-old gelding.
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"He's a genuine stayer. We've had to work our way up to that trip," Pepper said.
"He started short and had two starts over the mile then start to the 2000 metres, which was always the plan. Not many plans come off in racing, so I was happy that it did today.
"He didn't have much luck in the run. Everything sort of went wrong but luckily enough he was able to get out late and charge over the top of them.
"We've always said the horse would stay and that's what he did [on Tuesday]."
Pepper has nominated Viceroy in $100,000 Snake Gully Cup at Gundagai on November 15.
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
