Humidor has produced an impressive turn of foot in the final straight at Flemington this afternoon to be crowned the 2017 Australian Cup winner.

Leading Victorian trainer Darren Weir saddled Voodoo Lad to second in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) in the prior race, but punters rallied around Humidor in the hours leading up to the Australian Cup.

Jumping from the gates well, Humidor was settled towards the tail of the Australian Cup field as Ecuador, Awesome Rock and Jameka took up the early running.

Jockey Damian Lane managed to get the son of Teofilo to switch off and the pair experienced a carefree run towards the bend.

Jameka skipped two lengths clear when hugging the rails onto the final straight, but Humidor mustered a superior turn of foot to fly home down the outside of the field and find the line a head in the clear of the Caulfield Cup winner; Exospheric running on well to finish third.

Lane delivered a perfectly-timed ride aboard Humidor to win the Australian Cup and was thrilled to deliver Weir and connections the Group 1 triumph.

“Luckily enough the speed was genuine and he was too good on the day,” Lane said after the race.

“It’s a classic example of Darren setting a horse for a race and them being spot-on on the day. He’s gotten better in his manners and demeanour and he paraded a lot better today.

“We came around to the start beautifully and in the run I knew that he was travelling well, I just needed the right drag into the race and he got it.”

Weir was thrilled will Humidor’s performance to win the 2017 Australian Cup and revealed that the Group 1 The BMW (2400m) at Rosehill Gardens in a fortnight is his next target.

“When we purchased half of him, the plan was to set the horse for the Australian Cup and see how far we got with him, and it’s nice that it’s come off,” Weir said.

“He’s just progressed nicely each run and we got a great result today for everyone involved.

“At home he’s great. He’s good down at the beach and we’d never seen any antics in the mounting yard.

“Obviously he came to us with quite a bit of gear on and is a bit tricky to ride, but we took all the gear off and started from scratch.

“The BMW is a nice race for him at a mile and a half. He lucks cut in the ground at Sydney and weight-for-age.

“Providing he goes home and does well, we’ll be off to Sydney to try and get a winner up there!”

Punters who backed Humidor to win the Australian Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au have been paid out on $4 odds!

2017 Australian Cup Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	10	HUMIDOR (NZ)	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	–	7	59kg	$4.20EF
2	11	JAMEKA	Ciaron Maher	Hugh Bowman	0.4L	11	57kg	$4.20EF
3	6	EXOSPHERIC (GB)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Damien Oliver	1.65L	10	59kg	$10
4	1	STRATUM STAR	Darren Weir	Mark Zahra	1.85L	2	59kg	$11
5	3	THE UNITED STATES (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Ben Melham	2.35L	4	59kg	$5.50
6	9	BOOM TIME	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Regan Bayliss	5.35L	8	59kg	$41
7	7	TALLY	John O’Shea	Joao Moreira	5.85L	1	59kg	$21
8	5	ECUADOR (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus	7.85L	5	59kg	$11
9	2	AWESOME ROCK	Leon & Troy Corstens	Stephen Baster	8.05L	6	59kg	$21
10	8	TOM MELBOURNE (IRE)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Glen Boss	20.05L	3	59kg	$16
11	4	MOURINHO	Peter Gelagotis	Anthony Darmanin	28.05L	9	59kg	$101