Letts riding for dear life, Love Bandit second, Arwon the outside, Hyperno in a pocket and then came My Blue Denim with a fast run.
The race was won by the American bred gelding Beldale Ball, trained by Colin Hayes and ridden by John Letts.
[3] The pre-race favourites were the Bart Cummings gelding Hyperno who won the 1979 Melbourne Cup and the 1980 Cox Plate winner Kingston Town, however the latter was scratched after suffering a suspensory ligament injury.
Before the half-way mark John Letts took Beldale Ball to the lead and heading into the straight he put three lengths on the field.
Prior to the Melbourne Cup he was 2nd by a neck to Mr Independent in the Herbert Power Handicap (2400m) and 2nd to stablemate Bohemian Grove in The Dalgety (2500m).