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Melbourne Cup

Australia | FEATURE RACE GUIDE

History

KNIGHT'S CHOICE winning the Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington in Australia.
KNIGHT'S CHOICE winning the Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington in Australia. Picture: Steve Hart

The Melbourne Cup is a Group 1 race run under Handicap conditions for open class stayers at Flemington conducted by the Victoria Racing Club.

The Melbourne Cup is run over 3200m. It was first run in 1861 and was won by Archer who would win the first two Cups.

The race has always been at two miles (3200m).

The Melbourne Cup was a Principal Race until 1979 then Group 1.

The most famous names of the Melbourne Cup are Phar Lap who won in 1930 and was an all-time great, Bart Cummings who won 12 Cups (7 more than anyone else) and Makybe Diva who became the only horse in the history of the race to win three of them.

Bobby Lewis and Harry White won four Melbourne Cups as jockeys while Etienne De Mestre and Lee Freedman have five Cups as well as trainers.

Lloyd Williams is the most successful owner with seven victories – Twilight Payment the most recent.

Besides Makybe Diva, Think Big along with Rain Lover, Peter Pan and Archer are the only horses to win more than one Cup.

Kingston Rule holds the race record at 3:16.30.

Shadow King ran in six Melbourne Cups from 1929 with numerous placings. Prince Of Arran placed his three attempts.

Dunaden defeated Red Cadeaux by the smallest margin in history taking 3 minutes to decide the photo.

There have been four 100-1 shots win as the biggest price. The most recent was only 2015 with Prince Of Penzance.

Twelve horses have done the Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double – Without A Fight, Ethereal, Might And Power, Doriemus, Let's Elope, Gurner's Lane, Galilee, Even Stevens, Rising Fast, Rivette, The Trump and Poseidon.

Last Southern Hemisphere 3yo winner was Skipton in 1941. Rekindling was a Northern Hemisphere 3yo in 2017 and so was Cross Counter in 2018.

Mares have won 14 times with Verry Elleegant the most recent in 2021. They won five times from 1988 to 2005 but before that Light Fingers was 1965.

History was made at Flemington in 2015 when Prince Of Penzance won making Michelle Payne the first female jockey to win the race.

In 2001 Shiela Laxon was the first woman to 'officially' train the winner when Ethereal scored a big win. Catalogue was forced to be raced under the name of the husband of its trainer A McDonald. Gai Waterhouse has done it since with Fiorente.

Laxon would then become the first to win it twice with Knight's Choice (in partnership with John Symons). They were the only two horses she has had run in the Cup.

Dermot Weld changed the race forever winning the 1993 Cup with Irish stayer Vintage Crop. He would win it again in 2002 with Media Puzzle under emotional circumstances after jockey Damien Oliver rode the race despite his brother dying within the week prior.

Other internationals to win since then have been Delta Blues for Japan, Americain and Dunaden for France, Protectionist for Germany, Rekindling and Twilight Payment for Ireland and Cross Counter for England.

In fact Ireland trifectad the race in 2017 with Joseph O'Brien, Aidan O'Brien and Willie Mullins taking the main spoils. There was one Australian trained horse home in the first seven. Then the English trifectad in 2018.

Godolphin finally broke their duck in that Cup when Charlie Appleby had Cross Counter win in 2018. That horse would win the Dubai Gold Cup four months later.

The 2019 Cup was notable for many things including Craig Williams, on Vow And Declare, joining the select group of riders to win the grand slam of Aussie G1s. It also included the first upheld protest for a placing as Master Of Reality was relegated behind both Prince Of Arran and Il Paradiso.

Reigning Horse of the Year Verry Elleegant brilliantly won in 2021 carrying a big weight for a mare. It was her 10th individual G1 race win. She led home a trifecta of horses carrying 57kg which was the first time in Cup history that weight or higher had filled the placings.

In 2024 Knight's Choice became the first Queensland trained horse to win. His sire Extreme Choice became the second sire to produce both a Golden Slipper winner and a Melbourne Cup winner (Sir Tristram – Maurauding/Brew).

The Melbourne Cup was worth $8,560,000 in 2024.

Notable winners of the Melbourne Cup include Without A Fight (2023), Verry Elleegant (2021), Cross Counter (2018), Almandin (2016), Prince Of Penzance (2015), Protectionist (2014), Americain (2010), Delta Blues (2006), Makybe Diva (2003/2004/2005), Media Puzzle (2002), Might And Power (1997), Saintly (1996), Vintage Crop (1993), Kiwi (1983), Think Big (1974/1975), Rain Lover (1968/1969), Galilee (1966), Light Fingers (1965), Evening Peal (1956), Rising Fast (1954), Comic Court (1950), Peter Pan (1932/1934), Phar Lap (1930), Poseidon (1906), Carbine (1890), Malua (1884), Grand Flaneur (1880), The Barb (1866) and Archer (1861/1862).

The 2024 Melbourne Cup was won by Knight's Choice from Warp Speed and Okita Soushi.


Racing and Sports

Previous Melbourne Cup Winners

Date Horse Jockey WT Trainer BP
KNIGHT'S CHOICE (AUS) 5G
EXTREME CHOICE (AUS) - MIDNIGHT PEARL (AUS) MORE THAN READY (USA)
ROBBIE DOLAN 51.5 J G SYMONS & S LAXON 5
WITHOUT A FIGHT (IRE) 6G
TEOFILO (IRE) - KHOR SHEED (GB) DUBAWI (IRE)
M J ZAHRA 56.5 A & S FREEDMAN 16
GOLD TRIP (FR) 5H
OUTSTRIP (GB) - SARVANA (FR) DUBAI DESTINATION (USA)
M J ZAHRA 57.5 C MAHER & D EUSTACE 13
VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ) 6M
ZED (NZ) - OPULENCE (NZ) DANROAD (AUS)
JAMES MCDONALD 57.0 CHRIS WALLER 18
TWILIGHT PAYMENT (IRE) 7G
TEOFILO (IRE) - DREAM ON BUDDY (IRE) OASIS DREAM (GB)
JYE MCNEIL 55.5 JOSEPH O'BRIEN 12
VOW AND DECLARE (AUS) 4G
DECLARATION OF WAR (USA) - GEBLITZT (AUS) TESTA ROSSA (AUS)
CRAIG WILLIAMS 52.0 DANNY O'BRIEN 21
CROSS COUNTER (GB) 3G
TEOFILO (IRE) - WAITRESS (USA) KINGMAMBO (USA)
K MCEVOY 51.0 C APPLEBY 19
REKINDLING (GB) 3C
HIGH CHAPARRAL (IRE) - SITARA (GB) SALSE (USA)
C W BROWN 51.5 JOSEPH O'BRIEN 4
ALMANDIN (GER) 6G
MONSUN (GER) - ANATOLA (GER) TIGER HILL (IRE)
K MCEVOY 52.0 ROBERT HICKMOTT 17
PRINCE OF PENZANCE (NZ) 6G
PENTIRE (GB) - ROYAL SUCCESSOR (USA) MR PROSPECTOR (USA)
MICHELLE PAYNE 53.0 DARREN WEIR 1
PROTECTIONIST (GER) 4H
MONSUN (GER) - PATINEUSE (IRE) PEINTRE CELEBRE (USA)
RYAN MOORE 56.5 A WOHLER 10
FIORENTE (IRE) 5H
MONSUN (GER) - DESERT BLOOM (IRE) PILSUDSKI (IRE)
DAMIEN OLIVER 55.0 MS G WATERHOUSE 5
GREEN MOON (IRE) 5H
MONTJEU (IRE) - GREEN NOON (FR) GREEN TUNE (USA)
B PREBBLE 54.5 ROBERT HICKMOTT 5
DUNADEN (FR) 5H
NICOBAR (GB) - LA MARLIA (FR) KALDOUNEVEES (FR)
C P LEMAIRE 54.5 M DELZANGLES 13
AMERICAIN (USA) 5H
DYNAFORMER (USA) - AMERICA (IRE) ARAZI (USA)
G MOSSE 54.5 A DE ROYER DUPRE 11
SHOCKING (AUS) 4H
STREET CRY (IRE) - MARIA DI CASTIGLIA (GB) DANEHILL (USA)
C W BROWN 51.0 MARK KAVANAGH 21
VIEWED (AUS) 5H
SCENIC (IRE) - LOVERS KNOT (NZ) KHOZAAM (USA)
B SHINN 53.0 BART CUMMINGS 8
EFFICIENT (NZ) 4G
ZABEEL (NZ) - REFUSED THE DANCE (NZ) DEFENSIVE PLAY (USA)
M RODD 54.5 GRAEME ROGERSON 9
DELTA BLUES (JPN) 5H
DANCE IN THE DARK (JPN) - DIXIE SPLASH (USA) DIXIELAND BAND (USA)
Y IWATA 56.0 KATSUHIKO SUMII 10
MAKYBE DIVA (GB) 6M
DESERT KING (IRE) - TUGELA (USA) RIVERMAN (USA)
G BOSS 58.0 D L FREEDMAN 14
MAKYBE DIVA (GB) 5M
DESERT KING (IRE) - TUGELA (USA) RIVERMAN (USA)
G BOSS 55.5 D L FREEDMAN 7
MAKYBE DIVA (GB) 4M
DESERT KING (IRE) - TUGELA (USA) RIVERMAN (USA)
G BOSS 51.0 DAVID HALL 14
MEDIA PUZZLE (USA) 5G
THEATRICAL (IRE) - MARKET SLIDE (USA) GULCH (USA)
DAMIEN OLIVER 52.5 D K WELD 3
ETHEREAL (NZ) 4M
RHYTHM (USA) - ROMANEE CONTI (NZ) SIR TRISTRAM (IRE)
S SEAMER 52.0 SHEILA LAXON 11
BREW (NZ) 6G
SIR TRISTRAM (IRE) - HORLICKS (NZ) THREE LEGS (GB)
K MCEVOY 49.0 MICHAEL MORONEY 22

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