Winning jockey Robbie Dolan's sad family detail comes to light after Melbourne Cup victory

Melbourne Cup winning jockey Robbie Dolan's partner made the shock call to convince his father to surprise him at Flemington as the remarkable details surrounding his daughter's attendance have emerged. Dolan left the racing world stunned having defied odds of up to $101 to win a photo-finish on Knight's Choice at the 2024 Melbourne Cup.

The jockey, and singer who appeared on The Voice, was a long shot in guiding Knight's Choice across the Flemington line in first place with Vauban and Buckaroo strong favourites. But he made sure the favourites wouldn't win again, for the 12th straight year, with a simply incredible ride in front of more than 90,000 fans.

And Dolan embraced his father, Bobby, after the race as he broke down in tears. Earlier this week, Bobby revealed he wasn't initially attending the Melbourne Cup until late last week when Dolan's partner, Christine, decided to organise his visit to Melbourne.

The jockey had no idea his father was going to be at the Melbourne Cup until he was surprised and he was glad he was. "Robbie didn't have a clue I was coming over, his partner organised it and I got picked up at the airport," Bobby Dolan told Racenet.com.

"Then I walked into Robbie's house and he nearly died with shock when he saw me. I worked for Dermot for a long time, I was involved with him when he had the two Melbourne Cup winners."

Speaking to Sky Racing after the race, Dolan admitted he couldn't hold back the tears when seeing his family after the race. This included seeing his daughter and partner who have supported him on his journey. "I didn't know he was coming, he surprised me. Rocked up in my kitchen," Dolan said moments after the race.

"He is here today. I kept it together really well until I came back in the mounting yard and saw my dad, Christine and little Massie. I just bawled my eyes out."

Christine reveals sad child revelation at Melbourne Cup

Incredibly, Dolan's daughter Maisie was at the race with the family going through a shocking ordeal after her birth. The two-year-old was born 15 weeks premature and was in neonatal intensive care for 110 days before being allowed home. Dolan and his partner were thrilled to have their daughter in Melbourne to witness her father live out a dream.

"There will be 100,000 people there on Tuesday and she will be right in the middle of it, although she won't have much of an idea what's going on," Dolan added. "I was always confident that she was going to be OK, you have to be optimistic. She is a trooper, she is tougher than what I am and she is going well."

After the race, Christine was holding Maisie and told Channel Nine how proud she was after the tough road to race at the Melbourne Cup. "Very proud. This has been a long time....It's all paid off...it is all very hustle and bustle," she said amid the celebrations.

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The jockey joked before the race if he won the big race he might give up horse racing. However, it all quickly changed when celebrating the victory in the $8.5 million race.

"I won't be giving up. That feeling was too good," he said in the post-race interview. You have to go back as far as 2013 when the last favourite won the great race as jockey Damien Oliver claimed his third Cup on the Gai Waterhouse-trained Fiorente.

“I can’t believe it,” Dolan added. “I watched all the Melbourne Cups of the last 40 years last night and I thought my best chance were if I could get him to stay the trip and hopefully I could rattle home. He just proved everybody wrong. This is the biggest race in the world and winning it is incredible.”