The Melbourne Cup, affectionately known as ‘the race that stops a nation’, will celebrate its 150^th birthday in 2011. For almost a century and a half the Cup has provided unrivalled sporting drama and it is now one of the most important events in world horse racing.

The first Cup

The first ever Melbourne Cup was held on Thursday 7 November 1861. Seventeen horses competed for the prize of 710 gold sovereigns and a hand-beaten gold watch.

The first Cup was an eventful race. One horse bolted before the start, and three of the seventeen horses that did start the race fell, two of which died. The first Melbourne Cup winner was a 16.3 hand bay stallion called Archer who triumphed in a time of 3.52.00.

Archer was ridden by John Cutts and trained by Etienne de Mestre and the horse was a Sydney outsider who was largely swerved in the ante-post betting. However the horse spread-eagled the field and defeated the favourite and Victorian champion, Mormon, by six lengths.

The early years

Archer returned to win the second Melbourne Cup in 1862 and it took over a hundred years for another horse to win back-to-back Melbourne Cups (Rain Lover won in 1968 and 1969). Archer returned in 1863 for a third tilt at the Cup but was scratched on a technicality leading many other owners to boycott the race.

The race was first run on a Tuesday in 1875 and the first Tuesday in November, Melbourne Cup Day, was officially gazetted a full public holiday in 1877.

Foreign runners

Although the first foreign bred horse to win the Melbourne Cup was Comedy King in 1910, foreign horses competing for the Cup is a relatively recent phenomenon. Eight foreign bred horses have subsequently won the Melbourne Cup including Belldale Ball in 1980, Kingston Rule in 1990, Media Puzzle in 2002 and Makybe Diva in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Other notable dates

Some other notable dates in the history of the Melbourne Cup are:

• 1896 - The Cup was first filmed. This race was won by Newhaven
• 1915 - First woman owner to win was Mrs E.A. Widdis with Patrobas
• 1931 - The first year the totalisator operated at the Melbourne Cup
• 1958 - The first Cup start from starting stalls
• 2005 - Makybe Diva became the only horse so far to win the Melbourne Cup three times

Jockeys

Winning the Melbourne Cup is one of the lifelong ambitions of many jockeys. Bobby White and Harry Lewis share the record for most Melbourne Cup wins with four each with all White’s wins occurring during the 1970s. The 1970s also saw the first Aboriginal jockey to win with Frank Reys triumphing on Gala Supreme in 1973. The first female jockey to ride in the cup was Maree Lynden on Argonaut Style in 1987 and Claire Lindop became the first Aussie female jockey to ride in the Cup in 2003.

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