The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s major annual Thoroughbred horse race. It is held over a distance of 3,200 meters for horses three years and older. The Melbourne Cup is the richest and most prestigious “two-mile” handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in the world. Fondly called the ‘sport of the King’ and the ‘race that stops a nation’, Cup Day is a public holiday in metropolitan Melbourne. Every first Tuesday of November is marked for this race since 1875. Melbourne Cup history spans centuries since its first gallop in 1861.

First Fleet and the Legend of Archer

Archer - 1856 Melbourne Cup Winner

In January 1788, Port Jackson received the First Fleet and its cargo of a stallion, four mares, a colt and a filly. This landfall marked the beginning of horse history in Australia. In 1835 Melbourne settlers set up a horse track soon after they set up their homes. Bullock carts were grandstands and a coat stand marked the winning post. Bets were made and paid with bottles of rum.

Soon the venue moved from bullock carts to Fleming Town. A three-day event in March 1840 sealed the beginning of official horse racing history in Melbourne. Minor clubs ran the races until the Victoria Turf Club took over in 1861. That first Thursday of November marked the first race in Melbourne Cup history. This momentous race was run by seventeen horses and won by a hand bay stallion, Archer. Legend has it that Archer walked over 500 miles to Fleming Town from Terara near New South Wales to participate in the race. Archer won again the following year to a price of 810 gold sovereigns (£810) and a gold watch.

The race that stops a nation

The Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club merged to form the Victoria Racing Club in 1864. The Victoria Racing Club (VRC) had taken charge of the proceedings since then. Melbourne Cup history saw more promise and popularity under VRC. The sport grew, shed its parochial image, and became widely popular.

By 1865, Cup Day was declared a half day holiday. By 1877 it was declared a whole day holiday to allow patrons to crowd the Flemington race course. The Cup was held on its first Tuesday of November in 1875. It then too adopted the four-day format, which later evolved to today’s well-attended Carnival. From then until now the Melbourne Cup was growing to a locally and internationally supported event.

Early winners

Melbourne Cup history has seen a long line of proud winners. Archer, ridden by John Cutts, started off by winning the race in its first two consecutive years. At the inaugural race one horse bolted before the start, and three of the seventeen starters fell during the race, two of which died. Archer then defeated the favourite, Victorian champion Mormon by six lengths. On his third year Archer was scratched on a technicality. A meagre of seven starters ran that race as all others scratched their horses in sympathy.

Melbourne Cup’s first Tuesday in November 1876 saw the three-year-old filly Briseis win in a time of 3.36.25. She then went on to win the VRC Derby, the Melbourne Cup and the VRC Oaks in a span of six days. Apart from that impressive record, she was ridden by the youngest jockey ever to win. Featherweight Peter St Albans was eight days short of 13 years old when he and Briseis set their record.

Phar Lap wins the Melbourne Cup

Phar Lap is the most famous horse his day and is the champion of the 1930 Melbourne Cup. He won the as the shortest priced favourite in Melbourne Cup history at 11/8 odds on. He had to be hidden away at Geelong before the race after an attempt was made to shoot him.

The best timing in Melbourne Cup history was recorded by Kingston Rule in the 1990 Cup Day. He clocked in a still unbreakable record of 3:16:3. His namesake Kingston Town is known as the champ of the eighties. Further years into Melbourne Cup history show more records made and more favourites winning the race.

Trophies and prizes

The first ever prize handed out in Melbourne Cup history was 710 gold sovereigns and a hand-beaten gold watch. Archer and his rider did not complain in 1861, but prizes grew to be more valuable since then. A trophy was first handed to the winner only in 1865. It was in the form of a miniature horse and rider atop a silver bowl with decorative handles. The trophy changed form and metal in the following decades. Finally in 1919 the trophy now known as the Melbourne Cup was introduced.

Prize money traditionally came with the trophy. The 1985 Melbourne Cup became the first race in Australia with prize money of $1 million. The Cup currently carries a $500,000 bonus to the owner of the winning horse.

Recent years

The most visible changes in Melbourne Cup history is the arrival of many foreign-trained horses in the last decade. The attraction for foreigners to compete was primarily the change to the new “quality handicap” weighting system. The first foreign bred horse to win was Comedy King in the 1910 Melbourne Cup. Subsequent foreign-bred winners were Backwood 1924; Belldale Ball 1980; At Talaq 1986; Kingston Rule 1990; Vintage Crop 1993; Jeune 1994; Media Puzzle 2002; Makybe Diva 2003, 2004, 2005.

Melbourne Cup history initially did not witness nor allow women competing. Maree Lyndon became the first female to do it with horse Argonaut Style in 1987. Unfortunately, she came up second last. In 2001, the Cup was won by New Zealand mare Ethereal. She was trained by Sheila Laxon, the first woman to formally train a Melbourne Cup winner.

In 2005 Makybe Diva made Melbourne Cup history by becoming the only horse to win the race three times. The 2006 Melbourne Cup was won by the Japanese horse, Delta Blues by a nose over another Japanese horse, Pop Rock. 2008 Melbourne Cup’s winners were Viewed and rider Blake Shinn.