Bandipur won Saturday's Fight Cancer Foundation Plate (1100m) at Caulfield but Nikita Beriman on the favourite I Did It Again claimed she should have won after dropping her whip.
In a race with plenty of incidents, Damian Lane drove Bandipur ($5) home to defeat I Did It Again ($2.20 fav) by a short head with King's Authority ($16) a short half head off third.
Nikita Beriman said losing her whip 250m out cost her the race.
"I went to pick up my reins and then felt it slip out of my hands and it was too late," Beriman said.
"By then the race was all over - he's the type of horse that needs encouragement and it's cost me the race."
Nikita Beriman threw everything at I Did It Again, including her hand, after dropping the whip over the concluding stages. #RacingLivepic.twitter.com/8QlKK9X6BW
— Racing.com (@Racing) September 23, 2017
Lane said the race did not go to plan on the James Cummings-trained Bandipur.
"It was a messy race - we didn't go overly hard early and we were stacked up," Lane said. "I had a bit of trouble inside me and had to come wider than I planned off the turn.
"To his credit he did it hard but the more I got up him the more he found and he did a good job to tough it out."
I Did It Again was not the only hard luck story in the race.
Both Counterplay and Lakhoni ran out of room in the closing stages, with Patrick Moloney (Lakhoni) doing an outstanding job to stay in the saddle when dipping close to home.
Ryan Maloney and Superhard were bounced off the running rail inside the final 100m.
