Rookie racehorse owner Laurence Eales thought he was dreaming when Shocking burst from the pack to win Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.

"That has just blown me out of the water, I tell you," the 37-year-old said as he was hugged by his wife Prue.

"I can't believe we have just won the Melbourne Cup.

"It is my wildest dream come true."

Eales, who is originally from Cairns and now lives in Brisbane, has always loved horses but it wasn't until 2005, after he and his wife established Australia's biggest earth moving business, EA Hire, that he took a share in his first galloper, Rednex.

Trained by Mick Price and later by Anthony Cummings, Rednex won a race at Bendigo but Eales had a thirst for success and wanted more.

That hunger is typical of Eales, as is evidenced by the growth in his business which now employs more than 200 people in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

He started out buying his own weanlings and yearlings, picking them on conformation and paying attention to shoulder strength.

After noting the emergence of Mark Kavanagh as a Group One trainer when he collected major races with Devil Moon and Divine Madonna during the 2007 spring carnival, Eales rang Kavanagh and offered him a number of horses, including two colts.

One was Whobegotyou and the other Shocking.

Both were sons of 2002 World Cup winner Street Cry and destined to be headline grabbers.

A year ago Whobegotyou was hailed as racing's next superstar after he won the Caulfield Guineas and finished second to Rebel Raider in the Victoria Derby but 10 days ago, after winning the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes and Group One Yalumba Stakes, he was unplaced as a popular favourite in the Cox Plate.

That disappointment came just a week after Shocking, who had run second in the Queensland Derby in June, failed to get a run in the Caulfield Cup as an emergency.

The path to the Melbourne Cup was a tough one with the four-year-old running second in the Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) and Coongy Handicap (2000m) before winning last Saturday's Lexus Quality (2500m) at Flemington.

Let down after having high expectations, Eales was hopeful rather than confident about Shocking winning the Cup.

"We knew he was on fire but, gee, to win the Melbourne Cup, I tell you, it certainly makes up for the Cox Plate," he said.

"This race is the race at the top. It is absolutely mind-blowing."

Eales tried to get perspective as his mind raced back to his earliest Melbourne Cup memories.

His first recollection was of Just A Dash winning in 1981 for legendary trainer Tommy Smith while George Hanlon's 1984 winner Black Knight was his first bet in the race.

Now he has come from onlooker to winning owner.

"I knew when I built my business up and had a bit of `coin' behind me I would have a bit of a crack," Eales said.

The timing could not have been better and now he and the horse he bought for $64,000 as a two-year-old at the 2007 Magic Millions Horses in Training Sale are part of Melbourne Cup folklore.