Oliver had earlier joined Bobbie Lewis on 24 Group 1 wins during the Melbourne Cup Carnival when he partnered Colette to victory in the TAB Empire Rose Stakes and it was a similarly shrewd ride that saw him create history at Flemington by landing his 25th top-level triumph during Cup week, almost three decades after he scored his first - the 1992 Victoria Derby (2500m) on Redding.
An exciting finish to the mile handicap saw the Western Australia-owned Superstorm, trained by Danny O'Brien, get up in the final stride to deny top Sydney mare Icebath by a nose.
Cascadian was a further nose away in third, making it three years in a row that he has been placed in the Kennedy Cantala, while favourite Mr Brightside was on the bottom end of a four-way photo in fourth.
“It feels pretty good," Oliver said. "It was nice to get a narrow victory. There were horses everywhere, typical of a big mile handicap. I was getting a good run through and then I just had to switch off ones heels suddenly when it straightened. Fortunately it didn’t cost him any momentum and he stuck his head out on the line.
"It’s great for Danny. He always does well here at Flemington and nice to get a good winner for him.”
Oliver will look to extend his record when he partners Delphi in Tuesday's feature, the Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m)
