Piping Lane a dyed-in-the-wool stayer Piping hot: Piping Lane returns to scale after winning the 1972 Melbourne Cup. From little things big things grow. Consider Piping Lane. As a foal, Piping Lane was so small he was compared with a great dane. Given time to mature, Piping Lane was sold for $100, only because the buyer figured he was a yearling and not a two-year-old. Yet Piping Lane, in 1972, became the third Tasmanian-bred to win what was very much a weights-and-measures Melbourne Cup. Metrics were introduced in 1972, and the Metric Conversion Board insisted racing be the trailblazer for the new system. Racing was so strong in the Australian psyche that the board felt if punters would switch from furlongs and pounds it would be easier to influence buying sugar by the kilo and timber in metres. The loudest voice in opposition was The Age in Melbourne, which wanted the Melbourne Cup distance retained at two miles and not 3200 metres. It was argued that 110 Melbourne Cups could be then compared "with the same measuring stick" and being "61.5 feet" short is not the same. Results would be different at the new trip. To name a few, turf historians reckoned Red Crest, and not Red Handed, would have won the Melbourne Cup, and Akbar, not Delta, had the race been two miles. Piping Lane, by Lanesborough out of Londonderry Air, which was bought for "tailing sheep and cattle" by Mr. R.E.Prevost, of Epping Forest, Tasmania. Prevost was unaware that Londonderry Air was a thoroughbred until a motorist stopped while he and the mare were doing sheep duties and chastised him for treating a thoroughbred in such a manner. On investigation, the advice was correct and he found it convenient to take Londonderry Air across the road to be mated with Lanesborough. Later, Ned Peterson, also of Epping Forest, paid the $100 for the offspring and, as he aged, Piping Lane got better but was still a maiden after 11 starts. However, he continued to improve, particularly over longer journeys, but when he triumphed in the Hobart Cup the gelding caught the eye of Ray Trinder, 69, a tallow merchant of Devonport. Until April of his Cup year, Piping Lane had been restricted to his home state but Trinder paid $6000 for him in quest of the Melbourne Cup. Trinder was an owner-trainer with an amateur jockey's licence and shortly before the new acquisition rode a winner. The appeal of Piping Lane to the new owner was the staying power in his pedigree. Alas, Trinder's family thought the venture was merely a dream. George Hanlon, one of the great horsemen of his time, was approached to take Piping Lane. The trainer was lukewarm about having the gelding and went on holiday to Europe. Meanwhile, Trinder exercised Piping Lane through the winter and later travelled from Devonport to Hobart regularly to supervise his training. Piping Lane was hardly impressive in Victorian lead-ups to the Big One but Hanlon returned five weeks before the target and took over the preparation. Hanlon had four Cup runners that year. Apart from Piping Lane, he also saddled up Dark Suit, Haarle and Tipping Time. Looking for a strong lightweight, Hanlon booked John Letts from Adelaide. Letts had never ridden at Flemington, and even declined a preliminary walk of the circuit. "All I need is the running rail," Letts said. In the barriers he told rival Neville Voigt (Hayburner): "We are only here to make up the numbers." But the skill of Letts was a feature. Never further back than seventh he gave Piping Lane the opportunity to show his tenacity and made full use of his handicap. Gunsynd and the New Zealander Magnifique were the favourites but with a doubt about Gunsynd running out the 3200m. Weight, whether it be kilos or pounds, was again a telling influence. Gunsynd had 60.5 kilograms and came in third, after being wide throughout, to Piping Lane, 40-1, under 48kg. Piping Lane ended the drought for Tasmanian-breds in Australia's main sporting event. The other two to score were Malua (1884) and Sheet Anchor (1885). Piping Lane also broke what Hanlon described as a Melbourne Cup jinx. At that stage the trainer had prepared two placegetters and two others had broken down during the running. And Piping Lane was no fluke. The following year the gelding was fifth, beaten 3½ lengths, with five kilos more. "He should have won again," jockey John Stocker said, confirming Trinder's prediction he was a true two-miler.