To heighten the tension the inquiry – normally open to the media – was, because of COVID protocols, held behind closed doors with journalists, broadcasters and punters up and down the country trying to read the runes as the officials deliberated.

As time went on the pundits, desperate to fill air space, suggested that the longer the issue remained unresolved, the more likely it was that Williams would win the verdict. As so many tipsters before them, this was a call that some – though not all – eventually got wrong.

The stewards’ decision was worth far more than the $3 million prize, dazzling though that is. Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation hardly needs the cash, while the O’Brien stable has plundered millions of Australian dollars in recent years with two Melbourne Cup triumphs via Rekindling and Twilight Payment.

This was a decision that could add millions more to either horse’s stud value, which, at this level of the sport, is far more significant than the prizemoney.

A win could see State Of Rest’s or Anamoe’s post-race earnings increase by thousands of dollars for each mare he serves in his future career in the breeding shed. The status of winning Australia’s greatest weight-for-age race ensuring not just a lucrative future bankroll, but a place in posterity.

There was also a ‘racing diplomacy’ aspect to this outcome, which could not have come at a more sensitive time for Racing Victoria, given the reluctance this year of many European trainers to send horses to Australia for the carnival because of the stricter protocols and tests Racing Victoria has put in place.

When racecourse broadcaster Matt Hill announced the protest was dismissed and the placings stood, Allen and O’Brien’s representative, Mark Power, were the most relieved men on the course, as well they might be.

With this victory Joseph, who already holds a 2-0 Melbourne Cup lead over his esteemed father Aidan, now draws level with the master of Ballydoyle in Cox Plate triumphs, State Of Rest matching Adelaide’s winning effort in 2014.

What made the win more special for all concerned was the fact that it was Irish through and through. Allen made his name in Australian racing as a jumps rider, notching victories in all the great steeple and hurdle races for Darren Weir, who gave him his chance when he decided to move Down Under to gain more opportunities.

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Weir was a huge admirer of Allen’s horsemanship, and when the jockey got his weight under control and was able to ride on the flat (where the weights are lower) he used him more than any other rider.

The Irishman is now well established as one of the leading men in Victoria, and he was delighted to land his first major, given its Irish connection.

His links with the O’Brien family run deep too; when he began his career in his native country he worked for Joe Crowley – Joseph O’Brien’s grandfather. As he said with relief, perhaps old Joe was looking down on them when they needed him most.