Best Solution wins prestigious Caulfield Cup for Godolphin and Pat Cosgrave

Godolphin claimed Saturday's big race in Australia when Best Solution clung on to win the Caulfield Cup in a photo-finish.

The four-year-old, ridden by Pat Cosgrave, led three furlongs out but victory came down to the nod as he got the better of fast-finishing Homesman by a short-head.

Best Solution had been expected to run handy, but missed the break and Cosgrave had to work hard to get him towards the front of the field.

He kicked two lengths clear a furlong-and-a-half from the line but had to dig deep to see off the persistent late challenge posed by Homesman, who was receiving plenty of weight.

Irish challenger The Cliffsofmoher stayed on strongly to claim third, just under two lengths behind the winner, who was returned at 11/1.

Andrew Balding's Duretto finished fourth at 25/1 with the third British runner - Red Verdon - trailing home in 11th in one of the traditional trials for next month's Melbourne Cup.

Cosgrave said of the winner: "I had a bad trip around, Saeed was adamant we need to be forward and handy. I had to work so hard to get to where I was. An unbelievable performance.

"My horse is a good stayer. He toughed it out. It was a battle, he stays well, hard and tough."

Victory came at a cost for Cosgrave, though, as he was banned for 11 meetings for careless riding - the ban will not rule him out of the Melbourne Cup, for which Best Solution is around a 10/1 shot.