The wind flirting with his tail was all that disturbed his statuesque demeanour as the cameras clicked and O'Brien held the cup in one hand and the lead rope attached to the horse's halter in the other.
After about five minutes spent posing,Vow And Declare shuffled back and slightly raised his left hoof as a sprinter might rest their foot on the starting blocks. He could have remained in that position for another five minutes but his staying power was more than the trainer's or his assistant,Ben Gleeson and the media call was brought to a halt.
With his job done the horse was expecting to head back to 13th Beach on Wednesday afternoon to O'Brien's property near Barwon Heads,the rolling space that played such a significant role in enabling Vow And Declare to upstage the European-bred stayers in Australia's greatest race.
"He is just a very happy horse,very relaxed,"O'Brien said.
"He has a great nature."
That nature however changes on the racecourse when the horse becomes a competitive animal that refuses to be beaten,even when every human watching on has given up hope he can win.
As he did on Oaks Day over 1800 metres a year earlier,as he did on Melbourne Cup day at the end of a 3200-metre race,and as he had initially done in recording his first win,at Warrnambool as a three-year-old when he was headed at the 200-metre mark before fighting back to win a 2400-metre race.
"It was a long,long way down the straight and I actually thought inside the 100[metre mark] he was going to run a nice third or fourth but he is an incredible warrior this horse,"O'Brien said.