Green Moon wins Melbourne Cup

Brett Prebble riding Green Moon (R) crosses the finish line to win the Emirates Melbourne Cup during 2012 Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Photo by Getty

Green Moon thundered down the straight to win the A$6.2 million ($NZ7.8 million) Melbourne Cup, upsetting a host of highly-fancied foreign entrants to bring Australia's most coveted racing prize back into local hands.

The Robert Hickmott-trained stallion charged to the front with 300 metres to the line and held off fast-finishing runner-up Fiorente to win the two-mile handicap by a length, with third-placed Jakkalberry a further length-and-a-quarter back.

It is the first win for a locally prepared horse since Shocking won "the race that stops a nation" in 2009.

Jockey Brett Prebble, who rode the 22-1 shot to perfection, punched the air in celebration as a packed crowd at Flemington Racecourse roared, and shook hands with Britain's Prince Charles in the crowd.

Prebble said he knew the six-year-old bay had the race won at the 1,200 metre mark.

"I knew nothing was going to go with him if he sustained the journey," he said in a television interview.

"I probably pressed him a bit soon and it's hard to wait when you have so much power underneath you but I was very confident that no-one would pick him up when I let him down and he ran all the way through the wire.

"It was a great feeling."

Fiorente's runner-up finish was further heartbreak for trainer Gai Waterhouse, who trained two previous second-placings - Te Akau Nick in 1993 and Nothin' Leica Dane in 1995 - in the Cup.