Race Overview
Known as the race that stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup is a 3200m handicap race for 3YOs and over which is held at Flemington in Melbourne.
Held on the first Tuesday of the month in November, the Cup is the feature race of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.
With total prizemoney of $8 million, the Cup is the richest ‘two-mile’ handicap in the world and one of the richest races on turf on the Australian racing calendar.
Steeped in history, the inaugural race was held in 1861 and was won by Archer who went on to win back-to-back Melbourne Cups with a successive win in 1862.
The record time for the race has stood for more than 30 years with Kingston Rule clocking a time of 3:16.30 in 1990.
As a handicap race, the minimum handicap weight is 50kg and while there is no maximum weight, the top allocated weight must be less than 57kg.
The weight a horse will carry is determined by the VRC Handicapper and is allocated to each horse in early September.
The maximum allowed field for the race is 24 for safety reasons but there were bigger fields in the early editions of the race including 39 runners in 1890.
On the other end of the scale, the smallest field contained just 7 runners in 1863
Colloquially known as the ‘race that stops the nation’, it has literal meaning in Melbourne where Cup day is a public holiday for all working in metropolitan Melbourne and some parts of regional Victoria.
A unique aspect of the race is that usually half of the field for the Cup are overseas-trained horses which reflects the increasing global interest in the race and in recent years, international horses have dominated the Cup.
It’s also worth noting that Australia doesn’t have a deep reputation for breeding genuine stayers which increases the likelihood of international horses dominating the race.
Some of the greatest horses in Australian racing history have won the Melbourne Cup including the legendary Phar Lap (1930) and Makybe Diva who famously won three straight Cups in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Four other horses have won the race twice including Archer (1861, 1862), Peter Pan (1932, 1934), Rain Lover (1968, 1969) and Think Big (1974, 1975).
The most successful jockeys have been Bobbie Lewis (1902, 1915, 1919, 1927) and Harry White (1902, 1915, 1919, 1927) who both won the race four times.
Legendary trainer Bart Cummings has been the most successful trainer and his record of 12 winners might not ever be surpassed.
Prolific-winning owner Lloyd Williams has been the race’s most successful owner with 7 wins.
Michelle Payne created history in 2015 when she rode rank outsider Prince Of Penzance to victory, becoming the first female jockey to win the iconic race.
The winner of the 2022 race was the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Gold Trip.
What a race!
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 1, 2022
GOLD TRIP wins the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup 🏆
@cmaherracing pic.twitter.com/4qJa2gZbpi
Form Indicators
*Favourites backers boast a modest record in the race with just 34 favourites winning from the last 150 editions of the race.
*The shortest priced winner in the race’s history was Phar Lap who was 8/11 or $1.73 in 1930.
*A number of roughies have won over the years with 4 horses winning at odds of above $100 including The Pearl (1871), Wotan (1936), Old Rowley (1940) and Prince Of Penzance (2015).
*The heaviest weight carried by a winner was Phar Lap who carried 68kg in 1930 while Makybe Diva holds the record for a mare after carrying 58kg in 2005.
*The lightest weight carried by a winner was Banker who carried just 34kg in 1863.
*Archer wasn’t just the inaugural winner of the race in 1862, he also holds the record for the widest winning margin of 8 lengths (1862) along with Rain Lover (1968).
*Two 8YOs have won the Cup including Toryboy (1865) and Twilight Payment (2020).
*Shadow King holds the record for the most number of starts in the Melbourne Cup with 6 in 7 years between 1929 to 1935. He never won the Cup but finished in the top 6 all six attempts and finished 2nd twice.
*The premier lead-up race for the Melbourne Cup is the Caulfield Cup which is another staying event. A number of horses have completed the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double with Ethereal the most recent to complete the double in 2001.
*The Melbourne Cup is one of only 2 Group races in Australia over 3200m with the Sydney Cup in NSW the only other Group 1 race over the distance. The only other 3200m races in Australia are Listed events.
*Winners of the Caulfield Cup (2400m), Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m), Cox Plate (2040m), Hotham Handicap(2500m) and The Bart Cummings (2500m) all earn automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup.
Previous Winners
2022 – Gold Trip
2021 – Verry Elleegant
2020 – Twilight Payment
2019 – Vow And Declare
2018 – Cross Counter
2017 – Rekindling
2016 – Almandin
2015 – Prince Of Penzance
2014 – Protectionist
2013 – Fiorente
2012 – Green Moon
2011 – Dunaden
2010 – Americain