2010 Spring Racing Carnival

Melbourne Cup

• Type: Group 1 handicap race
• Distance: 3200 metres
• Age: 3 year old and over
• Racecourse: Flemington, Melbourne
• 1st Place Prize Money: $3,300,000 plus trophies to owner, trainer, jockey, groom (Tommy Woodcock trophy) and breeder
• Minimum handicap weight: 3yo 49 kg, 4yo+ 50 kg

Positively the most anticipated and well known horse race in Australia, the Melbourne Cup is what horse racing is all about. Stand out horses, legendary trainers, renowned jockeys, an enormous amount of money and over 100,000 spectators are what make the Melbourne Cup “the race that stops a nation”. It is the richest handicap in the world and is the aim for all horse owners, trainers and jockeys.

Bart Cummings has won the Cup twelve times and has now been proclaimed the “Cup’s King” and the late Etienne de Mestre trained 5 Cup winners. Another Cup legend is definitely Makybe Diva, with 3 Melbourne Cup winnings to her name in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Kingston Rule is the current race record holder after his superb win in 1990 in 3 minutes 16.30 seconds and Carbine carried 65.5 kg in 1890 to be the highest weighted horse to win the Melbourne Cup. The only jockey to win a total of 4 Melbourne Cups was Bobbie Lewis, winner of more than 900 races in his 40 year career.

The legendary Phar Lap was the shortest priced favourite to win in 1930 with his odds at 11-8 and remains the only horse to have started as the favourite in three consecutive Melbourne Cups. Unlike other races, the barrier numbers at the Melbourne Cup have had no impact on whether a horse will win. Amongst the 24 positions available, winners have come out of almost every stall and some racehorses have even managed to win the race multiple times including Archer in 1861 and 1862, Peter Pan in 1932 and 1934, Rain Lover in 1968 and 1969, Think Big in 1974 and 1975 and Makybe Diva in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Furthermore, eleven horses have managed to win the Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double including 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 (2001).

With a race so rich in history it is no wonder it is so highly regarded in Australian culture and even more so why the people of Victoria are given a public holiday on the day to celebrate and watch the heart stopping race.

Melbourne Cup Winners