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The Melbourne Cup - The Race That Stops Australia
03/08/10
We have the Grand National, the Americans have the greatest two minutes in sport, but Australia has the race that stops the nation.
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The Melbourne Cup is as big a part of Australian culture as cold lager, barbeques and Neighbours.
The first Tuesday in November is a public holiday in most of the state of Victoria and the Cup is the one race in the Australian year that captures the hearts, minds and wallets of the whole country.
Having been lucky enough to witness the great race first hand in 1997 when Jim Cassidy made just about all the running on the aptly named Might and Power, I can bear witness to the occasion that is Cup day in Melbourne. Things have changed a little in recent seasons, but when I was at Flemington the opening race was at 10.30am, and the card included a hurdle and a Group One sprint!
Since 1993 when Dermot Weld sent Vintage Crop to the Cup, the race has been targeted by trainers from around the world, and although only Delta Blues in 2006 for Japan has been successful in wresting the Cup from the Antipodeans, the challenge from overseas gets stronger every year.
Of the 253 entries for the 2010 running of the Melbourne Cup, no less than 45 come from overseas with a particularly strong contingent entered from Europe and Japan.
A handicap run over two miles, the Melbourne Cup is firmly established as the richest and most historic two mile handicap in world racing. In 2003, a record crowd of more than 122,000 turned up at Flemington, making it second only to the Japan Cup in terms of paid attendance for one racing day in the world.
Although a handicap, the Cup has followed the lead of the Breeders’ Cup in America by now nominating a series of ‘win and you’re in’ races around the world.
This list now includes races such as the Doncaster Cup, the Irish St Leger, the Arlington Million and a couple of Group One races in Japan.
Recent Cup history has been dominated by two names – Bart Cummings and Makybe Diva.
Legendary trainer, Bart Cummings is known as the Cup King – and with 12 wins on his CV that title is well deserved. For the novice punters in Australia, blindly following the Cummings Cup entries as been as successful as the old system in this country of backing whatever Lester Piggott rode in the Epsom Derby.
Cummings last won the Cup in 2008, which was a remarkable 50 years after his first success.
In 2005 Makybe Diva completed a hat-trick of wins in the Cup, making her the only horse to achieve this feat since the race was first run in 1861. Her success put her in the same bracket at Red Rum in this country with his exploits at Aintree.
The build up to the Cup starts from now and will build as the Spring Carnivals in Melbourne and Sydney hit full swing in the next few weeks.
Melbourne Cup Timeline
1861 – The first Melbourne Cup was run and won by Archer, ridden by John Cutts
and trained by Etienne De Mestre. The first prize was a gold watch and 930
pounds and the event attracted a crowd 4,000 people
1865 – The first year a trophy was awarded, which was a silver bowl on a stand with
a narrow neck with two ornate handles and topped with a horse and jockey
1873 – The smallest ever Melbourne Cup field with seven starters
1875 – The first time the Melbourne Cup was run on the first Tuesday in November
1877 - Melbourne Cup became a public holiday for Victorians
1880 – First Melbourne Cup to attract an attendance of 100,000
1890 – Carbine won the Melbourne Cup in record time (3.28.25) carrying a record
weight (65.5kg) in the biggest field ever assembled (39)
1896 – The first ever Melbourne Cup to be captured on film
1925 – Melbourne radio station 3LO broadcast a live commentary of the Cup for the
very first time
1930 – Phar Lap makes history, winning races on each of the four days of the
Melbourne Cup Carnival
1948 – Photo finishing was used for the first time to decide the winner with Rimfire
winning over Dark Marne by a nose length
1965 – Light Fingers wins the Melbourne Cup to provide Bart Cummings with his first
Melbourne Cup win
1972 – The first metric running of the Melbourne Cup with the two-mile distance
becoming 3,200 metres
1990 – The fastest run Melbourne Cup was won by Kingston Rule in 3:16.3 minutes
1993 – The first time the great race is won by an international horse, Vintage Crop
from Dublin
2001 – Carbine inducted into the Hall of Fame
