A Short History Of The Melbourne Cup

First run in 1861 for a prize of a gold watch and £170 cash, the A$10million Lexus Melbourne Cup is one of the richest prizes in Australian sport, and the world’s richest handicap race run over 3200m. But it’s much more than just a horse race; it is a 165-year old social and cultural tradition that brings Australia, and to a lesser extent New Zealand, to a standstill.

It’s widely regarded as ‘the race that stops a nation’, because most people stop to watch the race at 5:00pm (NZT) on the first Tuesday of November every year. Here’s a few other things you might not yet know about the Great Race.

THE ODDS ARE A HUNDRED TO ONE

In 2015 Prince of Penzance became just the fourth horse to win the Melbourne Cup at odds of 100-1 ($101) or more. The other horses were The Pearl in 1871, Wotan in 1936, and Rowley in 1940.

NEW ZEALAND SUCCESS

Horses with a New Zealand connection have a big reputation in the Melbourne Cup. New Zealand-bred horses have won 44 Melbourne Cups (43 individual winners). New Zealand’s bloodstock reputation began when Martini Henry won the Melbourne Cup in 1883 and was cemented with racing greats, such as Carbine (1890) and Phar Lap (1930), as well as New Zealand bred and trained Rising Fast (1954), who is the only horse to have won the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup in the same year. More recently, Kiwi captured the hearts of New Zealanders when he stormed down the home straight to win the Cup in 1983. Other notable winners include Empire Rose (1988), Doriemus (1995) and Might and Power (1997).

Although Australians have claimed her, Verry Elleegant, who was bred in New Zealand, raced the early part of her career in New Zealand, is part-owned in New Zealand, was trained by a New Zealander, and was ridden in the Cup by a New Zealand Jockey, was a true Kiwi success when winning the 2021 running of the Melbourne Cup.

New Zealand dominated the Cup during the late 1900s. In the period between 1947 and 2001, 33 of the 55 Cups contested were won by New Zealand-bred horses. New Zealand-bred horses also managed to pull off the trifecta (first three placings) on six occasions during this period. The first Kiwi trifecta was Nightmarch, Paquito and Phar Lap in the 1929 running. New Zealand-bred trifectas followed in 1955, 1960, 1974, 1975 and 1978.

NZ Bred Winners Of The Melbourne Cup

1883: Martini Henry
1890: Carbine
1907: Apologue
1916: Sasanof (NZ Trained)
1929: Nightmarch (NZ Trained)
1930: Phar Lap
1936: Wotan (NZ Trained)
1938: Catalogue (NZ Trained)
1947: Hiraji
1949: Foxzami
1952: Dalray (NZ Trained)
1954: Rising Fast (NZ Trained)
1955: Toparoa
1957: Straight Draw
1959: Macdougal
1960: Hi-Jinx (NZ Trained)
1962: Even Stevens (NZ Trained)
1964: Polo Prince (NZ Trained)
1965: Light Fingers
1966: Galilee
1967: Red Handed
1970: Baghdad Note (NZ Trained)
1971: Silver Knight (NZ Trained)
1974: Think Big
1975: Think Big
1976: Van der Hum (NZ Trained)
1977: Gold and Black
1978: Arwon
1979: Hyperno
1982: Gurner’s Lane
1983: Kiwi (NZ Trained)
1985: What a Nuisance
1987: Kensei
1988: Empire Rose (NZ Trained)
1989: Tawrrific
1991: Let’s Elope
1995: Doriemus
1997: Might and Power
1998: Jezabeel
2000: Brew (NZ Trained)
2001: Ethereal (NZ Trained)
2007: Efficient
2015: Prince of Penzance
2021: Verry Elleegant

CUPS DOUBLE

13 runners have achieved the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup Double in the same year. Australian Thoroughbred Hall of Famer Poseidon was the first to do so in 1906 and Half Yours was the last horse to complete the double in 2025. Incredibly, eight of the 13 Cups Doubles have been taken out by New Zealand bred horses.

Successful Cups Doubles

1906: Poseidon
1937: The Trump
1939: Rivette
1954: Rising Fast
1962: Even Stevens
1966: Galilee
1982: Gurner’s Lane
1991: Let’s Elope
1995: Doriemus
1997: Might and Power
2001: Ethereal
2023: Without A Fight
2025: Half Yours

BART

Legendary ‘Cups King’ Bart Cummings won 12 Melbourne Cups and produced the Quinella on five occasions. The great trainer first won the race in 1965 with his last victory 43 years later, in 2008, when Viewed defeated European visitor Bauer in one of the closest finishes in Cup history.

Bart Cummings Trained Winners

1965: Light Fingers (Bart Quinella)
1966: Galilee (Bart Quinella)
1967: Red Handed
1974: Think Big (Bart Quinella)
1975: Think Big (Bart Quinella)
1977: Gold and Black
1979: Hyperno
1990: Kingston Rule
1991: Let’s Elope (Bart Quinella)
1996: Saintly
1999: Rogan Josh
2008: Viewed