There are lots of statistics surrounding the Melbourne Cup, which is the most popular and well analysed horse race in Australia by far. Run over 3200 metres and worth a total of $6.2 million, the Melbourne Cup is an institution in Australia and the richest two mile handicap event in the entire world.
Age of Winners:
3 year old – 23 – last was Skipton in1941
4 year old – 44
5 year old – 43
6 year old – 31
7 year old – 10
8 year old – 2
Sex of Winners:
Entire – 64
Gelding – 51
Colts – 21
Mares – 13
Fillies – 3
Winning Barriers:
Barriers 5, 10, 11 and 14 – 7 winners
Barriers 6, 8, and 19 – 5 winners
Barriers 1, 4, 17 and 22 – 4 winners
No horse has won from barrier 18 since barrier stalls were introduced
Barrier 7 has only been won by Backwood in 1924 and Makybe Diva in 2004
Winning Numbers:
No 4 and No 12 with 11 wins
No 1 with 9 wins
No 8 with 8 wins
No 11 with 7 wins
Dual Winners:
Archer – 1861 – 1862
Peter Pan – 1932 – 1934
Rain Lover – 1968 – 1969
Think Big – 1974 – 1975
Makybe Diva is the only triple winner in 2003-2005
Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup Double Winners:
Poseidon – 1906
The Trump – 1937
Rivette – 1939
Rising Fast – 1954
Even Stevens – 1962
Galilee – 1966
Gurner’s Lane – 1982
Let’s Elope- 1991
Doriemus – 1995
Might and Power – 1997
Ethereal – 2001
Highest Winning Weight:
10st 5 lb (66.0 kg) Carbine (1890)
10st 2 lb (64.5 kg) Archer (1862)
10st 0 lb (63.5 kg) Poitrel(1920)
Melbourne Cup History
The Melbourne Cup is the most famous horse race in Australia and one of the richest thoroughbred races in the entire world. Raced over 3200 metres by horses three years old and over, this great event is the major highlight of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Hosted every year at Flemington Racecourse, the Melbourne Cup truly is “the race that stops a nation”.
With a history that stretches back to 1861, many of Australia’s most elite horses have won this event. Archer won the inaugural race in front of an estimated crowd of 4000 people, in a race that was eventful to say the least. With one horse bolting before the start and seventeen starters falling during the race, two of which died, the Melbourne Cup got off to a rather inauspicious start.
The Melbourne Cup quickly became popular with racing fans, however, with 100,000 people in attendance by 1880. The Cup was originally held on a Thursday, moving to its Tuesday timeslot in 1875 and remaining that way ever since except for a few years during the Second World War. While a number of great horses have won the Melbourne Cup over the years, perhaps the most famous winner was Phar Lap in 1930, who became the shortest priced favourite to win this event.
Some of the other champions who have won the Melbourne Cup over the years include Carbine in 1890, Peter Pan in 1932 and 1934, Comic Court in 1950, Rising Fast in 1954, Rain Lover in 1968 and 1969, Kiwi in 1983, Vintage Crop in 1993, Might and Power in 1997, and Makybe Diva in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In the last few years, winners include Viewed in 2008, Shocking in 2009, Americain in 2010, Dunaden in 2011, and Green Moon in 2012.
The last decade has been an eventful one for the Melbourne Cup, with a number of historic races and events taking place. Makybe Diva became the only horse to win the race three times in 2005, Bart Cummings took his 12th victory as a trainer in 2008, and French horse Dunaden crossed the finish line first in the closest finish ever in 2011.
Melbourne Cup Culture
The Melbourne Cup is more than just a horse race, with this special event surrounded by a rich and vibrant culture. Off-the-track attractions include ‘Fashions On The Field” and a variety of musical entertainment, with celebrity guests, fine dining, and flowers also playing a special role in “the race that stops a nation”. The Melbourne Cup is held on the first Tuesday of November each year, with this single day of racing the major highlight of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival each year.
‘Fashions On The Field’ is an important part of the Melbourne Cup, with great prizes on offer for the best-dressed man and woman. Everyone makes an effort in the fashion stakes for the Melbourne Cup, with Flemington transformed into a fashion capital for the day. Elegant hats and fascinators also play a big role on the day, with women taking the opportunity to wear their most outlandish and spectacular head-ware.
If anything can compete with the fashion culture which surrounds the Melbourne Cup each year, it would be the flower displays that adorn Flemington Racecourse. Flowers, especially roses, are a vital part of Melbourne Cup Day, with no expense spared in making Flemington Racecourse beautiful. There are around 12,000 roses in the racecourse grounds, with 200 separate varieties looked after by a team of up to 12 gardeners. Each of the major racedays at Flemington has an official flower, and for the Melbourne Cup it is the Yellow Rose.
Thoroughbred racing culture is as rich and vibrant as ever, with this one event continuing to capture the imagination of the entire nation. In the Melbourne metropolitan area, Melbourne Cup Day has been a public holiday since 1877, with the rest of the country known to stop for long lunches and special events. It has been estimated that 80 percent of the Australian population places a bet on the Melbourne Cup each year, with the popularity of this great race continuing to expand all over the world.
In the news:
Some facts about the $6 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday:-
* First run in 1861 under the banner of the Victorian Turf Club and won by the Etienne de Mestre-trained Archer who beat the favourite Mormon by six lengths. The prize was 1420 pounds and the trophy a gold watch.
* Archer came back the following year to beat Mormon, this time by eight lengths, a record margin that still stands (it was equalled in 1968 by Rain Lover).
* De Mestre would go on to train three other winners of the Melbourne Cup – Tim Whiffler (1867), Chester (1877) and Calamia (1878).
* Trainer Bart Cummings claimed the first of his 12 Melbourne Cups in 1965 with Light Fingers. The following year stablemate Galilee was the only horse to prevent Light Fingers making it back-to-back Cups and in 1967 Red Handed gave Cummings his third straight victory.
* Cummings’ other winners are Think Big (1974, 1975), Gold And Black (1977), Hyperno (1979), Kingston Rule (1990), Let’s Elope (1991), Saintly (1996), Rogan Josh (1999) and Viewed (2008).
* Other trainers to have multiple Cup wins include: 5 – Lee Freedman: Tawrrific (1989), Subzero (1992), Doriemus (1995), Makybe Diva (2004, 2005); 4 – John Tait: The Barb (1866), Glencoe (1868), The Pearl (1871), The Quack (1872); Richard Bradfield: Patron (1894), The Victory (1902), Night Watch (1918), Backwood (1924); James Scobie: Clean Sweep (1900), King Ingoda (1922), Bitalli (1923), Trivalve (1927); W S Hinkenbothem: Mentor (1888), Carbine (1890), Newhaven (1896), Blue Spec (1905).
* In 1972 the race was altered to the metric distance of 3200m, 18.7 metres or 61.5 feet short of two miles.
* Kingston Rule holds the metric race record of 3:16.30.
* 1985 marked the dawn of a new era for the Cup with prizemoney raised to $1 million. The owners of What A Nuisance received $650,000 and a $23,000 Cup.
* This year the race is worth $3.6 million to the winning owners along with a trophy valued at $200,000.
* Four-year-olds and five-year-olds have the best record of any age group in the race with 43 winners each. Other age groups are three-year-old (23), six-year-old (31), seven-year-old (10) and eight-year-old (2).
* The oldest horses to win the race were the eight-year-olds Toryboy (1865) and Catalogue (1938).
* The last three-year-old to win was Skipton (1941), who gave champion jockey Billy Cook his first Cup win.
* There have been no dead-heats for first in the race but Topical and Gaine Carrington dead-heated for third in Hall Mark’s 1933 Cup and Lahar and Zazabelle also dead-heated for third in the 1999 Cup won by Rogan Josh.
* Bobby Lewis and Harry White are the most successful jockeys. In 33 rides in the Cup Lewis saluted the judge four times with The Victory (1902), Patrobas (1915), Artilleryman (1919) and Trivalve in 1927. He was also runner-up four times and finished third on Phar Lap in 1929.
* Harry White steered the Bart Cummings-trained Think Big to successive victories in 1974 and 1975. He was back in the winner’s circle again with Arwon in 1978 and another Cummings’ runner Hyperno in 1979.
* Think Big failed to win a race between his two Melbourne Cup wins.
* Fawkner will be aiming to join a select group of horses to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double in the same year. They are: Poseidon (1906), The Trump (1937), Rivette (1939), Rising Fast (1954), Even Stevens (1962), Galilee (1966), Gurner’s Lane (1982), Let’s Elope (1991), Doriemus (1995), Might And Power (1997) and Ethereal in 2001.
* Fawkner’s stablemate Green Moon will be trying to join Archer (1861-62), Peter Pan (1932 and 1934), Rain Lover (1968-69) and Think Big (1974-75) to win the Cup twice.
* Makybe Diva is the only horse to win the Cup three times in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
* Perhaps the unluckiest of all Melbourne Cup runners was Shadow King who ran in six Cups between 1929 and 1935 finishing third to Phar Lap in 1930, second to White Nose in 1931, third to Peter Pan in 1932 and second again behind Hall Mark in 1933.
* The longest-priced horses to win the race were The Pearl 100-1 (1871), Wotan 100-1 (1936), Old Rowley 100-1 (1940) and Rimfire 80-1 (1948).
* In 152 Melbourne Cups, 32 favourites have won with the shortest-priced winners being Archer 2-1 (1862), Tim Whiffler 5-2 (1867), Revenue 7-4 (1901), Phar Lap 8-11 (1930), Even Stevens 3-1 (1962), Let’s Elope 3-1 (1991) and Makybe Diva at 5-2 in 2004.
* Melbourne Cup winners to produce other Melbourne Cup winners:- Grand Flaneur (1880) sired Bravo (1889) and Patron (1894); Malua (1884) sired Malvolio (1891); Comedy King (1910) sired Artilleryman (1919) and King Ingoda (1922); Spearfelt (1926) sired Dark Felt (1943); Marabou (1935) sired Skipton (1941); Silver Knight (1971) sired Black Knight (1984).
* Heaviest weights carried in the Cup:- Winners – Carbine 10.5 (65.5kg), Archer 10.2 (64.5kg), Poitrel 10.0 (63.5kg), Redcraze 10.3 (65kg). Others: Rising Fast 10.0 (65.5kg) 2nd, Eurythmic 10.5 (65.5kg) broke down, Phar Lap 10.10 (68kg) in 1931 8th, Peter Pan 10.6 (66kg) in 1935 15th.
* Trainers who have won the race before and have a runner on Tuesday: Alain De Royer-Dupre – Verema (Americain 2010); Mike Moroney – Voleuse De Coeurs (Brew 2000), Mikel Delzangles – Dunaden (Dunaden 2011); Robert Hickmott – Green Moon, Sea Moon, Fawkner, Mourayan, Seville, Masked Marvel (Green Moon 2012); Mark Kavanagh – Super Cool (Shocking 2009).
* Jockeys who have won the Cup before with a ride this year: Damien Oliver – Fiorente (Doriemus 1995, Media Puzzle 2002); Corey Brown – Super Cool (Shocking 2009); Michael Rodd – Masked Marvel (Efficient 2007); Jim Cassidy – Hawkspur (Kiwi 1983, Might And Power 1997); Brett Prebble – Green Moon (Green Moon 2012); Kerrin McEvoy – Royal Empire (Brew 2000); Chris Munce – Dear Demi (Jezabeel 1998); Christophe Lemaire – Verema (Dunaden 2011), Gerald Mosse – Red Cadeaux (Americain 2010).
