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Melbourne Cup Day began with a bang at Flemington on Tuesday as exciting first starter Amelia’s Affair announced herself as a juvenile to follow, producing an impressive debut performance to capture victory in the 2026 Maribyrnong Plate results.

Prepared by the training partnership of Annabel Archibald and Rob Archibald, the daughter of Home Affairs showed professionalism beyond her experience, leading throughout before powering clear under top jockey Damian Lane to score victory in the Group 3 $240,000 Maribyrnong Plate (1000m) by a commanding 2¾ lengths in the Group 3 juvenile feature.

The two-year-old filly defeated Royal Press, while La La Lilly filled third place, stamping herself as one of the early stars of the new crop of juveniles.

2026 Maribyrnong Plate Results

For Lane, the victory provided the perfect start to a huge afternoon ahead of his 2026 Melbourne Cup engagement aboard the Harry Charlton-trained Wine Dark Sea, currently a $41 outsider with Ladbrokes in the 166th edition of the ‘race that stops a nation’ – Flemington Race 7 at 3:00pm (AEDT) this afternoon.

Archibald Stable Unearths a Smart Filly

Co-trainer Annabel Archibald admitted the victory was a welcome result after a frustrating run of placings over the carnival.

“That was a massive thrill. Had a couple of seconds on Saturday and we were getting frustrated so great to start the day with that,” she told Racing Victoria.

Despite jumping quickly and finding the front, the plan had not necessarily been to lead on debut.

“Didn’t necessarily want to lead but they’re first starters and they’re always two-year-old races and you’d like to have a bunny to follow first time down the straight,” she added.

“But a great asset to have that gate speed and she relaxed beautifully.”

The trainer was particularly encouraged by how comfortably the filly handled the occasion.

“She never really looked lost, so she’s put them away pretty easily and a good ownership group,” Archibald said.

Archibald believes the youngster has an exciting future ahead.

“A good ownership group and we only finished selling her a couple of weeks ago,” she said.

“She’s going to take us on a good ride, very talented.”

The result was especially pleasing for her group of owners, who only recently secured their shares in the filly.

“I’m just so happy it’s such a great ownership group Peter Walsh, Damian Degenhardt,” Archibald said.

“I rang him a few weeks ago and said I’ve got this filly I need to finish selling and I think she’s pretty good so I could have had egg on my face.

“But just a great fun group and she’s just very, very talented.”

Catch her if you can ?

AMELIA'S AFFAIR runs away with the Darley Maribyrnong Plate, giving @LaneDamian a winning start to Lexus Melbourne Cup Day.#MelbourneCup pic.twitter.com/YreHfdKppP

— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 2, 2026

Plenty Of Improvement Still to Come

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the victory was that Amelia’s Affair may not yet be the finished product.

Archibald was relieved when the filly relaxed after showing her natural speed early and was delighted by the way Lane controlled proceedings.

“I was just relieved when she dropped a bit in front,” she admitted.

“I love the way he just managed to get a few cheap sectionals it looked, and she just skipped away from them.

“It looked like she did it with her ears pricked.”

The stable believes there is substantial upside still to come.

“I think the world’s probably her oyster because there’s a lot more improvement to come, that was off just one trial,” Archibald said.

Magic Millions Looms

Following the dominant debut success, attention immediately turned towards summer targets.

Archibald indicated the lucrative Restricted Listed $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 16 is firmly on the radar, although a decision will be made once the filly returns home and is assessed.

“You would imagine so,” she said of the summer target.

“Probably make that decision. It’s either Magic Millions or you put her away for the autumn.

“There’s obviously a lot of big two-year-old races, one big two-year-old race in March that we’d love to win as well.”

The trainer noted the filly had handled the travel exceptionally well.

“We’ll just see how she comes through this,” Archibald said.

“She only travelled down two days ago, so she’ll go straight back home and we’ll assess her from there.”

Lane Gets the Perfect Melbourne Cup Day Start

Champion jockey Damian Lane could not have asked for a better beginning to Melbourne Cup Day before turning his focus to the Cup itself.

“Good to get a result early,” the winning hoop said.

“Good to get a win on the board early with a filly as talented as this.”

Lane revealed he had concerns before the race after inspecting the straight course and drawing barrier one.

“She’s fast,” he said simply.

“After walking the straight thinking that the outside would be probably better for straight racing, I thought I might struggle to get where I wanted from barrier one.”

Fortunately, Amelia’s Affair’s natural pace quickly solved that problem.

“Having that early speed, I was able to get across pretty easy and when I let her down, I knew that she would put the race to bed because she just quickened really nicely,” Lane explained.

The jockey also paid tribute to the filly’s breeder and ownership connections.

“Obviously bred by them and sold through the sales presumably, I don’t know that bit of the story, and he’s kept a part of her, so great to race in his colours and he’s bred a smart filly,” Lane added.

Amelia’s Affair’s dominant debut ensured the opening race of Melbourne Cup Day belonged to a rising juvenile star. With the filly now likely bound for bigger targets over summer, including a potential tilt at the Magic Millions, the Archibald stable may have uncovered one of the most exciting two-year-olds of the season. Meanwhile, Lane heads into the Melbourne Cup later this afternoon full of confidence as he partners Wine Dark Sea in pursuit of Australia’s greatest staying prize.

Maribyrnong Plate 2026 Results & Finishing Order