Jockey Greg Hall wins the 1992 Melbourne Cup on flashy grey Subzero.
RACING
Greg Hall knows what it takes to win a Melbourne Cup, which is why he has "no doubt" son Nick will one day also know the feeling to win the world's richest handicap race.
The Victorian-based jockey is gunning to join Greg as the first father-son combination to win the race that stops a nation since Billy and Peter Cook achieved the feat 40 years apart.
Billy Cook won the 1941 and 1945 Melbourne cups on Skipton and Rainbird respectively before son Peter saluted aboard Just A Dash in 1981 and Black Knight in 1984.
The strength of Nick Hall's Melbourne Cup bid hinges on the fortunes of godfather Lloyd Williams' arsenal, which annexed staying features both sides of the border on Saturday.
Nick's mount, Seville, chased home stablemate Green Moon in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington, prompting bookmakers to slash his Melbourne Cup quote from $126 to $21.
Father Greg, who won the 1992 edition when legged aboard flashy grey Subzero, said Williams' team look primed to keep the Melbourne Cup on Australian shores.
"He [Williams] is going to have a good hand in it this year," Greg said. "Nick will be in play with him.
"He's had a couple of months break over the winter and has got his weight good. He rides well, and I'm not just saying that because he's my kid."
Pressed on whether he saw a lot of similarities in Nick's career progression compared to his own, Greg said: "He's had a couple of rides in it [already] and he's done better than me so far because I never had a ride ... until I was in my 30s.
"I hope he wins 10 Melbourne cups. I've got no doubt he will win one."
Nick was cruelly denied a chance to partner the Williams-owned English Derby runner-up At First Sight last year.
He agreed to let a coin toss with rival hoop Steven King decide who took the mount.
Twelve months earlier he partnered Zipping to a luckless fourth.