Melbourne Cup Facts
and
Betting Tips

Last year the 6YO Japanese horse, Delta Blues, trained by Katsuhiko Sumii, and ridden by Yasunari Iwata, won the Melbourne Cup. At its only other start in Australia Delta Blues, starting at $81.00, was a fast finishing close third in the Caulfield Cup to Tawqeet.

In 2005 the champion 7YO mare Makybe Diva won the Cox Plate and followed up that win by creating equine history, becoming the first horse to win three consecutive Melbourne Cups. She also carried equal top weight of 58kg.; the same weight as the 7YO Irish champion horse, Vinnie Roe.

Here are some interesting betting tips and facts about the Melbourne Cup:

1. The Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861. Archer easily won that race over two miles in a time of 3:52.00s. In 1968 Rain Lover set  the two miles race record time of only 3:19.10s.

2. In 1972 the race was converted to the metric distance of 3200 metres which is 18.69 metres or 61.30 feet short of  two miles. There is no doubt that some of the metric winners would not have won had the race remained two miles or, as many people wanted at the time, been changed to 3218.7 metres.

3. The metric record of  3:16.30 was set by Kingston Rule in 1990.

4. In 1985 the race reached $1 million dollars in prize money for the first time. What A Nuisance, ridden by Pat Hyland, won the $650,000 first prize. In 2006 prize money was $5,000,000 with $3,000,000 for the winner, Delta Blues!

5. Jim Cummings trained one Cup winner, Comic Court in 1950. In 1965 his son Bart trained  his first Melbourne Cup winner, the four year old mare Light Fingers. Bart Cummings holds the trainers' record having trained an incredible 11 winners. He last won the race in 1999 with Rogan Josh. However in 2001 and 2002 Bart Cummings missed out on getting a runner into the Cup field. In 2003 he had a runner, the 4YO horse Frightening, which was ridden by Shayne Dye and in 2005 the 6YO gelding, Strasbourg, which was ridden by Luke Nolen. Bart Cummings again did not have a runner in the 2006 Melbourne Cup.

6. When Ethereal won the Melbourne Cup in 2001, Sheila Laxon was the first woman trainer to officially win the Melbourne Cup. However Catalogue who won the 1938 Cup was trained by Mrs. A. McDonald. Women then could not be registered as trainers. It was her husband who was the registered trainer.  
 
7. The two most successful Melbourne Cup jockeys are Bobbie Lewis and Harry White with four wins each.

Bobby Lewis won on The Victory 1902, Patrobas 1915, Artilleryman 1919 and Trivalve 1927. He finished second four times and third on Phar Lap in 1929. Had the race been run then under Quality Handicap conditions, like it is now,  which means a compressed weight scale, there is no doubt Phar Lap would have won very easily.

Harry White won on the Bart Cummings' trained Think Big in 1974 and 1975. Think Big did not win a race in between those two Melbourne Cup wins. Harry White also won on Arwon in 1978 and another  Bart Cummings' trained horse Hyperno in 1979. So Harry White also holds a unique record of two Melbourne Cup doubles!

Glen Boss has three wins thanks to his success on the champion mare Makybe Diva.
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