| ALL you need to know for a MELBOURNE CUP CARNIVAL visit |
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ONCE IN A LIFETIME VISIT TO THE CUP BECOMES ADDICTIVE THOSE who love to Getaway and Go Racing will unanimously declare that Melbourne Cup week is an absolute must on the list of ‘things to do before you die.’ Many tell of planning this once-in-a-life time trip only to discover it was so addictive that they have returned every year since and never get tired of going. Others who finally succumbed to the toughest week of punting and partying imaginable have reduced their visit to Derby and Cup day. Some are content to re-live the memories on the couch in front of the box in the comfort of their own homes.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 2009 AAMI VICTORIA DERBY Day is considered by most racing purists to be the best single day of thoroughbred racing in Australia, if not the world. The day provides a sizzling start to the racing week with the only all-Group race day on the Australian calendar. The Victoria Derby is a classic Group 1 staying test for three-year-olds over 2500m, the showcase event of the program. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3 2009 EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP day is the greatest day on the Australian sporting and social calendar – the one day when the whole country, young and old, stops to partake in this unique cultural tradition. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5 2009 CROWN OAKS Day is the traditional ladies’ day, where women don their finest for a day of champagne, fashion and fun! Popularly known as ‘Ladies Day’, Oaks Day is the day for feminine elegance. While the racing highlight is the Group 1 Crown Oaks for three year old fillies, Flemington becomes a virtual catwalk of women dressed in their most stylish outfits for their moment in the sun or when the Melbourne weather turns sour – sometimes in the wet. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7 2009 THE CUP CARNIVAL concludes with EMIRATES STAKES DAY, featuring Victoria’s premier 1600m event, the Group 1 Emirates Stakes. THERE IS MUCH TO DO IN CUP WEEK FOR THOSE WHO LOVE RACING SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 2009 THE annual RACING FRATERNITY MASS will be held at St Francis' Church Melbourne (corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets) at 9am. The Mass is attended by people of all denominations, representing all sections of the racing industry, and is offered for the well being of the racing industry as a whole. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2009 THE EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP PARADE runs through the centre of the city from Noon to 2pm. It is telecast live by Channel 7. Feel the anticipation and excitement in the city streets of Melbourne as the atmosphere builds toward the big race the next day. Witness past champion thoroughbreds and past Melbourne Cup winning horses in the flesh, in company with the world's leading trainers and jockeys of today as they take aim at the world's most prestigious racing prize! The parade commences at Noon along Swanston Street and concludes at Federation Square. At the conclusion of the Parade will be the Emirates Melbourne Cup Eve Press Conference commencing at 12.45pm. AUSTRALIAN RACING MUSEUM - Open 10am to 6pm every day THE Australian Racing Museum at Federation Square, Melbourne, brings the exciting world of thoroughbred racing to the heart of Melbourne. The Museum showcases a magnificent collection of objects and provides a permanent home for the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Champions hosts special exhibitions and features state-of-the-art interactive and multi-media attractions to inform and entertain. The latest exhibition to swing into Champions, Keep it Under Your Hat: The Secrets of Millinery, looks at the amazing range of styles, materials and trim used in millinery over the past 100 years. Always a striking fashion statement, hats have always been an essential part of every racing wardrobe and continue to evolve and make their mark at the track today. LIVING LEGENDS: a Home of Rest for Champion Racehorses at Eliza Park LIVING LEGENDS, located just outside Melbourne, has been established to bring retired champion horses back to the public. It is situated at Woodlands Historic Park, an ideal location for a family outing or day trip. Living Legends is home to some of Australia's finest retired racehorses, including Fields of Omagh, Might and Power, Saintly, Sky Heights, Brew, Better Loosen Up, Rogan Josh, Doriemus and Paris Lane.
If you would like to plan a day trip to Living Legends and the surrounding area, there is an abundance of local attractions around Living Legends, including wineries, vineyards and an olive grove. If you are interested in a guided tour there are many options available. If you are interested in bringing a tour group to Living Legends, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or contact Andrew Clarke on 040 755 1289.
HISTORY OF THE MELBOURNE CUP THE founding fathers back in the 1860s would never have thought in their wildest dreams that the Melbourne Cup would grow into the event of today. The history of the Cup dates back to 1861, the brainchild of Captain Frederick Standish, one time VRC Chairman and former Chief Commissioner of Police in Victoria. The uniqueness of the race stipulated handicap conditions and a distance of two miles. Whilst this is the discerning and attractive feature of the race as we know it today, some critics claimed the conditions for the race would promote mediocrity. “Surely the race demands set weights status at least?” was the cry. Whilst the conditions of the race are against the grain of other premier international races, these are the same qualities which make it so unique and endearing.
But while the Cup continues to evolve it will remain the greatest 3200m horse race anywhere in the world and, by the nature of the conditions, arguably the most challenging to win. The race created considerable interest from its inception in 1861 in front of an estimated crowd of 4,000. Archer won the first Melbourne Cup. It coincided with the death of Burke and Wills, two of nation’s daring pioneers who were the first to track the harsh Australian terrain from north to south. It is recorded that the local community was in a state of mourning at the time. Archer's victory in 1861 was the first of two for the horse and the first of five for aspiring young trainer, Etienne de Mestre, who would quickly gain a reputation as a fine horseman, who hailed from Nowra in central New South Wales. The Cup quickly caught on as ‘the race’ on the Australian Calendar and a carnival boasting garden parties, gaiety and ladies showing off their latest finery. Cup Day at Flemington was renowned for its carnival atmosphere with shooting galleries and lawn parties. It was the place to be seen for the social set, politicians and Australia's rich and famous as much in the early days as it is today. Melbourne was relatively young having been discovered in 1833 and, at the height of the Cup's inception, was experiencing the Gold Rush with many people flocking there, and subsequently Bendigo and Ballarat, in the hope of a life changing experience. Initially the Cup was run on a Thursday. It was first run on a Tuesday in 1875 when Wollomai was successful. During this early period, John Tait, a jeweller from Hobart, would make a strong impact as trainer of The Barb (1866), Glencoe (1868), The Pearl (1871) and The Quack (1872). He was considered the first trainer to run his operation as a business. He mentored four-time Cup winning trainer Walter Hickenbotham, who trained Carbine, one of the greats of all time. By 1880, 100,000 people made the journey to Flemington to witness the Cup won by Grand Flaneur. With a Melbourne population of only 290,000, this attendance was quite phenomenal. The Stock Market crash of the 1890s rocked the confidence of many. However, this era was greeted also by the emergence of Carbine, one of the grandest racehorses to grace the Australian turf. He would set a weight carrying record of 10 stone 5 pounds in the Cup and be revered as a sign of strength and courage at a time when nearly one third of the Melbourne workforce lost their jobs. He was owned by the once wealthy Donald Wallace who was a founding partner of the Broken Hill Mining Company, but was later sold to stand at stud in England after Wallace fell on hard times. This was not an easy departure as thousands lined the port docks to see the champion son of Musket head off to his new home.
In 1903, Lord Cardigan would stamp his authority as a great Melbourne Cup-winning stayer. However, it was be the grand mare Wakeful that captured the hearts of an adoring public. With a weight carrying record of 10 stone for a mare, Wakeful was beaten in the shadows of the post. The winner was in receipt of 3 stone 4 pounds. Poseidon won the 1906 Melbourne Cup for trainer Ike Earnshaw, etching his name as the only horse to win the Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup, AJC and VRC Derby in the one season. In 1910, leviathan bookmaker Sol Green won the Cup with the first imported horse in Comedy King. The colt foal would travel by ship to Australia with his mother Tragedy Queen and not only win Australia's great race but sire no less than two other Melbourne Cup winners in Artilleryman (1919) and King Ingoda (1922). Leading up to 1914, Melbourne was recovering financially yet would brace itself for World War I where nearly 120,000 Australians lost their lives. In 1915 Edna Widdis became the first female owner of a Cup winner in Patrobas while a year later rain postponed the running of the Cup for five days. By 1930 the name of Phar Lap was ensconced in the Australian vernacular and arguably acclaimed as the best racehorse in the world. At least he was the best in Australia since Carbine (1890). Coincidentally, it was the inclusion of Carbine in Phar Lap's pedigree which lured a battling trainer, Harry Telford, to bid 160 guineas for the plain looking chestnut at the 1928 New Zealand Sales. This was the era of the Great Depression when half the workforce was unemployed. These were hard times and the emergence of Phar Lap was as much a counter punch to a stagnant economy as it was a sign of a truly amazing racehorse. He became an Australian symbol for hope, dreams and prosperity. To put it in perspective, many people would take to the track when Phar Lap raced and bet what little money they had on the ‘Red Terror’. For those who could not afford to lose, the prospect of better than bank interest exceeded the risks that came with it. Phar Lap started the 8-11 favorite in the 1930 Melbourne Cup - the shortest priced winner in the 145-year history of the race. The ease with which he won justified the price.
Peter Pan won the Cup in 1932 and 1934, the latter one of the great victories after tracking wide and having to carry the impost of 9 stone 10 pounds. He was trained by the ‘Prince of Trainers’ in Frank McGrath, who would record three Cup victories. He would be known as a noted survivor of an infamous race fall when 17 horses came down entering the straight in the 1885 Caulfield Cup won by Grace Darling. McGrath was lucky to be alive. In 1939 the battling Harry Bamber would provide hope for all dreamers around the country when his mare Rivette won both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double. Modestly bred and in the hands of a trainer who was down to his last dollar, Rivette became the first mare to win the Cups double and set his trainer up for life. This feat would be repeated by Let's Elope (1991) and Ethereal (2001) in later years. The 1940s saw the arrival and dominance of jockeys Billy Cook (1941 & 1945) and Darby Munro (1944 & 1946) as well as the amazing riding performance of 15-year-old Ray Neville (1948) who, with only nine previous rides, would claim a controversial photo finish on Rimfire. The photo finish was first introduced to Flemington race-meetings in 1946 and as this was the first Cup decided by the camera, struck immediate controversy with many declaring the camera was set on the wrong angle. This theory was vehemently denied by administrators at the time. 1950 marked a new dawn in Melbourne Cup history as Adelaide trainer Jim Cummings would win the Cup with Comic Court. Strapping for his father that day was a youthful Bart Cummings who realised, at that point, he was destined to make an impact on Australia's greatest race. As trainer of no fewer than 12 Cup winners, including five quinellas, Bart Cummings has left an indelible print on Melbourne Cup history. In 1954 the amazing Rising Fast would sweep all before him when he broke many records in winning the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup in the one year. He is the last horse to do this. Toparoa (1955) would provide Tommy Smith with his first of two Melbourne Cups yet he was denied victory in 1957 when owner, Mr E.A Haley, decided not to run his champion 3YO Tulloch in the Melbourne Cup. Up until his death in 1998, Smith claimed he would have been the greatest certainty in the Cup if his owner elected to run. Facing a forthright media who lobbied to have the horse withdrawn on grounds of ‘fairness to the horse’, a frail Mr Haley weakened to pressure and withdrew the three-year-old from final declarations. After Prince Darius finished a close second in the Cup to Straight Draw (1957), Smith was convinced a Cup went beckoning. Prince Darius had been beaten by Tulloch the Saturday before in the Derby by eight lengths! The Centenary Cup of 1960 saw the New Zealander, Hi Jinx, beat all comers and, in 1962, Even Stevens not only landed some of the biggest wagers in Cup history when he took out the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double, but saw the first of the New Zealanders fly directly into Melbourne from New Zealand. The 1965 Melbourne Cup offered connections a healthy $62,000 in prize-money and was just prior to decimal currency being introduced. This Cup saw the emergence of Bart Cummings as he would land the quinella with Light Fingers and Ziema. It also saw the arrival of a freshly faced Roy Higgins who, at 22, would win the coveted prize after returning from an unsuccessful riding stint in Europe. This was the start of a long and successful partnership between Cummings and Higgins which netted another Cup winner for the combination in 1967 (Red Handed). Mick Robins surely holds the record for the most inexperienced trainer to win the Melbourne Cup. After only taking out a license four months before the race, he trained Rain Lover to victory in 1968 and then backed up with the same horse in 1969 to become only the third horse to win two Melbourne Cups. Think Big would join this elite group in 1974-75. Robins was foreman for Graeme Heagney, who had elected to take up a training opportunity overseas at the time. Heagney recommended Robins train the horse and to his credit was equal to the task training Rain Lover to two Cup wins, the first of which was by 8 lengths. Rain Lover also highlighted the efforts of the bothers Malcolm and Clifford Reid who owned four Cups between them. Clifford, who owned Rain Lover (1968-69), also owned Rainbird (1945) and Malcolm owned 1963 winner, Gatum Gatum. The 1970s continued the dominance of New Zealand bred horses with five out of the 10 winners in this decade bred in the Shaky Isles. In 1972 the metric system was introduced and for the first time the Cup was run over the 3200 metres, marginally less than the traditional two mile measurement. One of the wettest Cups on record was recorded in 1976 when Bob Skelton guided Van Der Hum through the slush at Flemington. Visibility was so poor race-callers could not pick up final runners until the closing stages of the race. Some patrons were aptly attired in snorkel and flippers and seen swimming along the lawns at Flemington as the heavens opened like never before.
Master Caulfield trainer, Geoff Murphy would win the 1982 Melbourne Cup with Gurner's Lane promoting the advent of racing syndicates where the William Street No.2 Syndicate offered many people the chance to race a subsequent Caulfield and Melbourne Cup winner. This victory would deny modern day champion Kingston Town Cup glory when in the shadows of the post Gurner's Lane got up by a long neck. Like many Melbourne Cups before, it was a case of what might have been, as jockey Malcolm Johnson admitted to taking off too early on one of the true greats of the turf. For sheer amazement Kiwi's victory in 1983 had to be seen to be believed. After trailing most runners into the long Flemington straight, Kiwi - ridden by a youthful Jim Cassidy - produced a devastating run to beat all comers to the line. His trainer Snowy Lupton from New Zealand openly admitted he used Kiwi to ‘round up the sheep’ when the horse was out spelling. At least he stayed fit. Black Knight (1984) provided legendary trainer, George Hanlon with his third Melbourne Cup victory and in 1985 a Royal Visit to Flemington by The Prince and Princess of Wales saw the first million dollar cup run. Under overcast conditions, a young Victorian in John Meagher would train the Cup winner in What A Nuisance which in turn provided owner Lloyd Williams with his second Cup victory. A prolific owner of racehorses in the modern era, Williams would also part own 1981 winner in Just A Dash and have many Cup runners through the eighties and nineties. At Talaq (1986) would provide Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum with his first victory in the race and Empire Rose typified determination in 1988 as in the previous year she would go down by a narrow margin when second to Kensei. With the likes of Sheikh Hamdan adding to a growing list of prominent international owners eyeing the lucrative Cup prize, the Melbourne Cup was well on the way to becoming an international event. By the late 80s prizemoney continued to rise and with it brought fresh young faces on the Melbourne Cup landscape. Shane Dye, the confident and sometimes cocky New Zealand jockey and Lee Freedman, who depicts the image of a media savvy and educated trainer, would combine to win the 1989 Cup with Tawrrific. Freedman would quickly etch his name as a trainer of some repute winning a further four Melbourne Cups with Subzero (1992), Doriemus (1995) and Makybe Diva (2004 and 2005) and be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame at the young age of 46 years. Interestingly, Freedman is a relation of Midge McLachlan who rode the Cup winners in 1909, 1910 and 1917. Shane Dye would be listed as one of the more daring modern day riders who would never doubt his own ability - at least not in public. While the Cup started to move more firmly into the sights of the younger brigade, a man seemingly forgotten in the 1980s, burst back onto the scene at the start of the 1990 season. Bart Cummings, who had broken all records before him, was on the rise again and produced Kingston Rule to win the Melbourne Cup in 1990. Owned by wealthy merchant banker, David Hains, Kingston Rule would record the fastest time in Cup history with 3:16.3 and also provide jockey Darren Beadman with the first of his two Cup victories. He would also ride Saintly to victory for Cummings in 1996. Cummings trained Let's Elope to win both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in 1991 and by this stage Cummings was training the best in his career. Before the decade was out he would add Saintly (1996) and Rogan Josh (1999) to the list. With 11 Cup victories to his name, if anyone could rightly be called the Cups King, it was James Bartholomew Cummings.
If there was ever a turning point in the history of the Melbourne Cup then no doubt it was 1993. For the first time in the history of the race, the winner was trained off a European preparation. Vintage Crop, who would provide the first Cup victory for astute Irish trainer Dermot Weld, would ignite a new enthusiasm for the 3200m event. The Cup was no longer an Australian horse race, it was an international event providing a fitting challenge for the world's most noted trainers. It was at this time that the Melbourne Cup Carnival reached new heights. Attendances continued to climb, overseas media interest grew and by 2000, the Cup attendance would reach the highest in its history with 121, 015 recorded on the day. With Derby Day and Oaks Day also reaching the 100,000 crowd figure, it is no wonder that the Melbourne Cup Carnival was once again touted as the greatest racing carnival in the world. One reflects on the carefully chosen words of the great Mark Twain who was heard to say almost 100 years earlier: "Nowhere in my travels have I encountered a festival of the people that has such a magnetic appeal to a whole nation. The Cup astonishes me!" In light of the ongoing development of the Cup, one feels that this is still the case today. With the victory of Ethereal in 2001, Sheila Laxon became the first woman to train a winner of the Melbourne Cup. The media friendly Laxon, whose former husband Laurie Laxon trained Empire Rose to win in 1988, would set a new bench mark for women in racing. As the Cup now boasts a female Cup victory for owner and trainer, the Cup only waits on the first female jockey to take out the Cup. One suspects that will not be too far away. In 2002, jockey Damien Oliver carried the hearts of all Australians as he secured his second Cup winner only seven days after his brother Jason died tragically in a track accident in Perth. Oliver relinquished several lucrative rides at the Derby Day meeting three days earlier and many thought he would step down from his Cup Day mounts. But in the spirit and legend with which the race has become associated with, Oliver rode the race of his life winning aboard Media Puzzle. This was one of those unique occasions where you'd swear history had a predetermined course. Oliver would bury his brother 24 hours later in Perth. Tragically both Damien and Jason's father also died in a race fall back in the 1970s. The latest chapter in the Cup's history is no less enthralling with Glen Boss and David Hall combining for Cup victory with Makybe Diva. An import of sorts as the Desert King filly failed to sell at the yearling sales in England, her owner Tony Santic is a wealthy tuna fisherman from Port Lincoln, South Australia. Jockey, Glen Boss, would write his own history as only 16 months earlier he broke his neck in a race fall in Hong Kong. He was millimetres away from becoming a paraplegic. David Hall would add to his family history with the race as his cousin, Greg Hall, rode Subzero to victory in 1992. Glen Boss would repeat the performance in 2004 and again in 2005 when Makybe Diva would become only horse to win three Melbourne Cups. Carrying 55.5kgs in 2004, she created a new weight carrying record for a mare in the race and surpassed that yet again in 2005 when she carried 58kg. In 2006 Delta Blues became the first Japanese trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup opening a new front of competition for the coveted handicap event. Ridden by Yasunari Iwata, Delta Blues defeated stable-mate Pop Rock (Damien Oliver). Both horses were trained by Katsuhiko Sumii. The Cup continues to capture the imagination of an adoring public. It continues to become the one race which every jockey, trainer and owner wants to win. It is a race built on aspiration and inadvertently provides inspiration to so many who feel the challenges of life are grand. It started off as a ‘good handicapper's’ race yet quickly evolved to be one of the most sought after horse races in the world. It is the race that stops the nation and the jewel in the crown on the Australian racing calendar. In 2007 Efficient became only the sixth grey horse to win the Cup in the 147 year history of the race and the first horse since Phar Lap to win the VRC Derby - Cup double within twelve months. Bart Cummings celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first Melbourne Cup runner (Asian Court, 12th in 1958) by producing Cup winner number 12 with Viewed. Fittingly, it was also Cummings' 250th Group 1 winner. Viewed, ridden by Blake Shinn, scored by the barest of margins from Bauer, trained by Luca Cumani, who was also second the previous year with Purple Moon. The win by Viewed saw owner Dato Chin Nam become the first owner to win the Cup four times, having been successful previously with Think Big (1974, 75) and Saintly in 1996. For further details on The History of Australian Thoroughbred Racing including the history of the Melbourne Cup please go to www.historyofracing.com.au. HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST FAMOUS RACETRACK FLEMINGTON is the best-known racecourse in Australia. It is the oldest continuing metropolitan racecourse – there have been races here every year since 1840. It is the most significant racing heritage site in the country and in 2006 it was placed on the National Heritage List. The first race meeting held here was on the rough river flats beside the Maribyrnong River in March 1840 when Melbourne as a town was barely five years old. This was two years after Melbourne's first race meeting, near present-day Spencer Street railway station (March 1838). Following the 2006 Melbourne Cup Carnival, the Course Proper was ripped up to be fully replaced for the first time in the course's history. Racing was suspended at Flemington until September 2007. When Flemington (originally called Melbourne Racecourse) was first used as a racecourse (March 1840) it was regarded by the Government as Crown Land and was not privately owned. In 1848, the Governor of New South Wales was still in charge of the Port Phillip District which became the separate colony of Victoria in 1851. He formally ordered that a site of 352 acres be considered to be a public racecourse. He appointed six men as trustees of the racecourse area. In 1871 the Government passed a Victoria Racing Club Act which made the club the trustees of the racecourse. Flemington was first known as the Melbourne Racecourse. The original approach road from Melbourne crossed Moonee Ponds Creek at Mt Alexander Road and passed through the property called Flemington, owned since 1840 by James Watson. He built his Flemington Hotel there in 1848 and a small township grew up around it. He also married in 1840 and his wife Elizabeth came from a place named Flemington in Morayshire, Scotland. It was not, as was long thought, named after early settler Robert Fleming, whose home was in Brunswick. The name Flemington for the racecourse was commonly use by the late 1850s.
When Makybe Diva won the first of her three Cups in 2003, the official attendance was a record 122,736 but that figure has since been surpassed by the Derby Day crowd of 129,089 in 2006. In 2007, the VRC introduced a new ticketing strategy which would cap attendance figures at 120,000 to avoid overcrowding. Melbourne Cup Day as the first Tuesday in November has been a public holiday for the city since the mid 1870s. It is celebrated as a special day around the country. The VRC has constantly improved standards of comfort and accommodation at Flemington, with $26.2 million spent on improvements in the years 2000-2004, in addition to the $45 million grandstand completed in 2000. HISTORICAL FEATURES WORTH VISITING AT FLEMINGTON PHAR LAP STATUE PHAR LAP, foaled in New Zealand in 1926, became the most famous racehorse in Australia with 37 wins in his career, including the 1930 Melbourne Cup. He was a true celebrity in the early years of the great depression, and was adored by the public, but his career ended in drama and tragedy. In 1931 he was sent by ship to America to compete in one of the world's richest races at Agua Caliente, in northern Mexico. He won the race easily, but 16 days later he was dead after an apparent colic attack. Since veterinary and other opinions were not conclusive, the real cause of his death remains a mystery. His stuffed hide remains one of the most popular exhibits at the Melbourne Museum. In 1988 the VRC commissioned a bronze statue of Phar Lap from renowned sculptor Peter Corlett. This was part of the club's offering to the people of Melbourne for the celebration of Australia's bicentenary. Corlett's heroic Phar Lap is 10 per cent larger than life size, and stands at the main pedestrian entrance way to the course enclosure near the Birdcage. BIRDCAGE THE picturesque area where the horses are stabled while awaiting their races is 'The Birdcage', a borrowing from the saddling paddock at historic Newmarket racecourse in England. The origin of the name is disputed. Some say it was a place where elegant lady racegoers were on display as much as the horses. In 2007, the VRC replaced the ageing birdcage area with a state-of-the-art complex to house 125 horses. A 180me tunnel was constructed from the parade ring to the mounting yard to provide safe access for horses and to prevent over-crowding during busy periods such as the Melbourne Cup Carnival. CLERKS OF THE COURSE IT is a local tradition that the horses ridden by the clerks of the course are grey, but this is not essential. Most of the horses are former racehorses. Amongst the best known has been Subzero, 1992 Melbourne Cup winner, who began his career as a clerk of the course horse in 1994. The clerks themselves, along with the starter, judge and stewards, are traditional officials at horse racing, and have long worn the traditional hunting 'pink' jacket to make them easily visible. Their job is to maintain order amongst the runners before and after the race and to respond to any emergencies. Clerks have to be cool, daring and accomplished riders. CARBINE CARBINE was not only Phar Lap's great-great-grandfather but shares with him the honour of being considered the greatest horse in Australian racing history. He was foaled in New Zealand but most of his racing career was in Australia. He carried a record 10 stone 5 pounds (65.5 kg) to win the 1890 Melbourne Cup in a huge field of 39 runners. He became a very important stallion and late in his career was exported to England, where he sired winners of the English Derby and other great races. In 1990 the VRC arranged for the preservation of the wooden stalls where Carbine used to be housed when stabled at Flemington. MOUNTING YARD AS part of the changed layout in the 1920s, the mounting yard was moved to the front of the Members' Grandstand. In the 1990s it was enlarged to almost double the size. The horses arrive here with their strappers from the walking areas in the birdcage, saddled and ready for their jockeys and the race. Only officials, trainers, jockeys and owners associated with the horses in the race are permitted in the mounting yard. MURALS INSTALLED on the sloping interior walls of the Hill Stand, the magnificent seven panels tracing the History of Racing constitute a rare work of art. The well-known Australian artist Harold Freedman and his studio assistants depicted dozens of landscapes, scenes and portraits of horses and racing personalities in extraordinary detail. These represent the history of racing internationally as well as in all states of Australia, with an emphasis on Flemington and the Melbourne Cup. The work was commissioned to mark the Australian bicentenary, and was completed after several years at the end of 1988. The original research and the resulting pictures were used as the basis of the book series The History of Australian Thoroughbred Racing by author and historian Andrew Lemon.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND INFORMATION USED IN THIS FEATURE COURTESY OF RACING VICTORIA, VICTORIA RACING CLUB, MUSEUM VICTORIA, LIVING LEGENDS, AUSTRALIAN RACING MUSEUM AND OTHER SOURCES. |
Nothing quite compares with that wonderful week of racing, highlighted by the race that stops the nation on that first Tuesday in November. But these days you don’t have to be at Flemington to join the celebrations with literally hundreds of Cup day race meetings throughout the country.
The Australian Racing Museum is a not-for-profit organisation and is vital in preserving the heritage of horse racing and also creating awareness of the racing industry within Australia.
Living Legends is modeled closely on the Home of Rest for Horses in the United Kingdom, whose help was enlisted in establishing this complex. Like the Home of Rest in England the aim of Living Legends is to support equine research, education and training to benefit horses of all ages and breeds. Special emphasis, however, will be given to the care of older horses.
The Cup has long been lauded as the race that stops a nation and the race which has become ingrained in the Australian culture. It is a race built on dreams, on hard luck and triumph. It is a race which is also survived by tragedy.
The 20th Century was welcomed in with Melbourne Cup victory going to Clean Sweep and by Federation in 1901, a new era was about to unfold. This was an era which saw the likes of Walter Hickenbotham (1888, 1890, 1896 and 1905) continue to shine as a leading trainer, the emergence of a young James Scobie, who would also train four Cup winners (1900, 1922, 1923 and 1927) and the arrival of Bobbie Lewis who would ride in 33 Melbourne Cups for four wins, four seconds and one third. This record would only be equaled by Harry White, who rode four Cup winners in 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979.
Phar Lap had already escaped death prior to the 1930 Cup when he was shot at by gangsters. However, his death in 1932 in California rocked the social fabric of a fragile Australian community. Days before, he won the richest race in the world. Days later, Australia's greatest ever living racehorse was dead. The mystery surrounding his sudden death unearths new theories to this day.
Beldale Ball (1980) was the first of the modern day overseas horses to win the Cup. Owned by pools millionaire Robert Sangster and his then wife, Susan, Beldale Ball was formerly trained in Europe and exported to Australia destined for a Cups campaign. Ridden by dual cup winning jockey, John Letts, Beldale Ball was the first Cup victory for the Hayes training dynasty which would net three Cup winners. Colin - or C.S as he was known - won in 1980 and 1986 (At Talaq) and son David Hayes in 1994 (Jeune).
In honour of his achievements the VRC commissioned a bronzed statue of the outstanding trainer, which is now positioned in the "Birdcage Area" at Flemington. The club also presented Cummings with his own replica of the Cup, usually privileged to the owners, in honour of his 10th Cup victory.
Flemington was attracting crowds estimated at 100,000 for Cup Day in its first few decades. The Cup was always the most popular race of the year until a new trend emerged in 2001. In that year, both the Derby Day and Oaks Day attendances outstripped Cup Day as the popularity of Melbourne Cup Carnival exploded.