Brett Prebble is not shy of an on-track celebration as he crosses the finishing line - booting home a long shot in a Class Five at Happy Valley is enough to have him standing high in the irons, swinging his whip wildly above his head, and hooting and hollering so loudly it is audible in the upper reaches of the towering grandstands.
But when the Australian jockey won the 2012 Melbourne Cup on Green Moon, the scale of what he had just accomplished stunned him into silence. He simply looked down and shook his head as he crossed the line.
"I was humbled," he said. "I don't think at the time it hit me, it took a while to sink in. It's the only race you really want to win when you are growing up - before you even start riding in races."
For anyone involved in Australian horse racing, for any Australian, the Melbourne Cup is more than just a horse race - and not just because it is worth A$6.2 million (HK$34.28 million).
Gerald Mosse, who rides old stager Red Cadeaux on Tuesday, is fond of saying, "I'm famous in Australia," and the Frenchman might even be more well-known than champion jockey Zac Purton is in his home country. The reason: Mosse won the 150th running of the "race that stops a nation" aboard Americain in 2010.
For a jockey raised Down Under, winning the Melbourne Cup can be a career-defining moment and the pursuit of a victory over two miles at Flemington can easily become an obsession.
For Purton, that obsession has taken him to the racetracks of Japan during his summer break, when he could be on holiday, in search of a horse that can carry him to a life-changing victory.
For Prebble, the quest for a second win has seen him undertake a rigorous daily routine to shed kilograms to take a lightweight ride.
And for 21-year-old Chad Schofield, born in South Africa but raised in Australia, the chance to further establish himself as the golden boy of Australian racing sees him partnering a horse with a strong Hong Kong connection.
Joao Moreira will be there too, having picked up a ride on imported stayer The United States, but as much as the Magic Man would want to win - he always does - there is undoubtedly something more there for Prebble, Purton and Schofield.
To understand the impact of the Melbourne Cup in Australia, don't head to Flemington. Go to a workplace, pub or even a school. Everyone has a bet, or at least enters a sweepstake.
The race not only transcends racing, but sport, and is etched into the country's social fabric.
"Everything shuts, the streets are quiet and every television is showing it," said Schofield, who rides Gust Of Wind.
"It's the most famous race in Australia and the one you want to win the most. Even your friends that know nothing about racing want to know who you are riding. When it comes around, it is pretty big - to win it would be a dream."
Of course, Flemington will still be packed with more than 100,000 people - the average attendee more party-goer than hardcore race fan.
Schofield has ridden in the race twice and even passed that famous finishing post in front at his first ride on Ruscello as a 19-year-old.
Unfortunately, there was still a long 2,000m lap to go.
"I was praying, 'please God, let me stay in front,' but I finished last. This year is the first time I am going in with a live chance - my other two were 100-1 shots."
Purton returns 12 months after his forgettable trip for the 2014 Cup when he rode Japanese stayer Admire Rakti, sent out favourite courtesy of an impressive Caulfield Cup win at his previous start. Admire Rakti failed in the Cup and controversially died in the tie-up stalls post-race.
This year, Purton is back with another horse from the Land of the Rising Sun - Fame Game - possibly the best-credentialled horse to travel to Australia from the racing powerhouse.
"I think I am on the right horse," Purton said. "I just hope there is dry ground and there is pace on. If there is, I think we will be right there. I've been lucky enough to win a lot of races, but that trophy would look pretty good on my mantlepiece.
"The majority of people in Australia, the only race they know is the Melbourne Cup. It's the race that every person at every corner store wants to talk to you about.
"Riding over here means you have to go the extra yard to get a ride in the race and there are limited opportunities, but I've got what seems like a golden opportunity to win it this year."
Schofield may have to wait his turn to win the Cup, and it will be no measure of his ability if he never does - plenty of great jockeys never did, and many who are still riding never will.
For Prebble, the long wait was frustrating and led to the relatively mute post-race reaction on Green Moon.
"It was really sticking in me that I hadn't won a Cup, so there was more relief than anything else. I had a lot of success across the carnival, but in the Cup, I had no luck," said Prebble, who knocked back the chance to ride 2000 winner Brew. "My horses would just run terribly, or I would choose the wrong horse."
The fact that Prebble has won before has not dimmed his hunger for another, instead it has intensified.
From the moment he received a text from Nick Williams, the son of Green Moon's owner Lloyd Williams, he has been a man possessed. "The message said, 'you better get your weight down, be ready'," Prebble said.
Williams had purchased English St Leger runner-up Bondi Beach, which will stay under the guidance of Coolmore's Irish master trainer Aidan O'Brien for the big race and carry just 52.5kg.
Since the call-up, Prebble has put himself through a gruelling regime of two personal training sessions a day.
"I am 38 years of age and you have to try to keep an edge," he said. "I want to win another one just as badly as that first. I waited a long time for that and I know how hard it is to win.
"My horse ticks all of the right boxes. The only question mark is that he is first-up in two months going into the Melbourne Cup, but the X factor there is Aidan O'Brien - he has trained almost 250 Group One winners so you don't second guess him.
"I'll make sure I am right on that day and be as fit as possible. I am going to be 100 per cent right and I hope the horse is, too."
