The past winners of the Melbourne Cup have all gone down in history as some of the best race horses of their time. The Melbourne Cup is a major thoroughbred horse race run every year in November at the legendary Flemington Racecourse. The prize money will rise to more than AUD$6 million in 2010, making it one of the biggest in the horse racing world. It is organized annually by the Victoria Racing Club, which was established in 1864 by a group of horse racing enthusiasts. The Melbourne Cup itself, however, predates the Victoria Racing Club as the first race was held at Flemington Racecourse in 1861, although there have been horse races held at the course since the 1840s.
The Melbourne Cup winners are very important to horse racing fans as well as the citizens of Melbourne alike. Actually, the urban area of Melbourne closes down and goes on holiday on the days of important races, which highlights the size of the event. The Melbourne Cup’s commercial value is also recognized by companies, as it is sponsored by Emirates, making the whole name of the event the Emirates Melbourne Cup. The event is also frequented by gambling hobbyists, and thus there is a huge market to be found in bets on the Melbourne Cup.
Past Melbourne Cup Winners
Before going onto the heroes that have won the modern version of the Melbourne Cup, it would be good to take a closer look at the history of Melbourne Cup results, which spans more than a century of great horses and dedicated jockeys.
The first ever winner of the event was a classy thoroughbred named Archer on the race’s inaugural run in 1861. Archer would prove his worth when he won the Melbourne Cup once again the year after. On their website, the Victoria Racing Club acknowledges other past winners as well as the more ‘famous’ ones. These horses are Carbine (1890), Phar Lap (1930), Peter Pan (1932 & 1934), Comic Court (1951), Rising Fast (1954), Galilee (1966), Rain Lover (1968 & 1969), Kiwi (1983), Vintage Crop (1993), Saintly (1996), Might And Power (1997) and Makybe Diva (2003, 2004 & 2005).
In the modern Melbourne Cup, the winning ways of Makybe Diva cannot be overlooked as no other mare had ever won more than one Melbourne Cup beforehand. Makybe Diva won three in a row and is considered one of the best female horses in racing history. Makybe Diva’s days were a great era for punters, as Melbourne Cup trifectas became very easy to pick when the likely winner was so obvious.
International Melbourne Cup Winners
The Melbourne Cup has reached legendary status as a major annual thoroughbred horse race. Since 1993, horses from the northern portion of the world have travelled all the way to Melbourne just to get an opportunity to compete in the prestigious Melbourne Cup. This tradition began when an outstanding horse named Vintage Crop (trained and bred in Ireland) won the race despite the long travels. Those few punters with bets on Vintage Crop were made very happy.
This pilgrimage would change the nature of Melbourne Cup winners forever. After Vintage Crop won, there came more than a few minor victories in the events before and after the Melbourne Cup. Also, second and third placings by other thoroughbred horses in the Melbourne Cup more or less invited the rest of the world to the friendly shores of Australia to compete in the legendary and historical Melbourne Cup.
Recent Melbourne Cup Winners
In 2004, Ireland’s Vinnie Roe was one of the favourites in the entire competition. However, it took a massive effort from Australia’s own Makybe Diva in order to thwart the attempts of the Irish horse for the most prestigious Australian crown. However, in 2006 Australia would fail to protect its crown and a new era of Melbourne Cup winners would rear its head. A Japanese thoroughbred pair of Delta Blues and Pop Rock dominated the competition, winning first and second places in the Melbourne Cup.
In 2007 and 2008, however, the Japanese would fail to repeat this feat as thoroughbreds named Efficient and Viewed, ridden by world class jockeys such as Michael Rodd and Blake Shinn, would win first place in the massive competition. In 2009, Shocking unexpectedly took the Cup, just barely keeping it from two Irish runners.
Undoubtedly, though, the competition has become fiercer with the arrival of the rest of the world in the Melbourne Cup.
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