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| :: SITE CONTRIBUTORS :: |
| Editor: Elliot Dean |
| Writer: Ross Thomson |
| Writer: Janet Bastow |
| Photographer: Matthew Smith |
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Melbourne Cup Betting Advice
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The 'Race that stops a Nation' is the most heavily bet on event in Australia, with millions having a flutter every first Tuesday in November. Picking the winner can prove a hard task for the average once-a-year punter, so here are some tips to help your chances of success.
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 2004 prize money was $4,500,000 with $2,700,000 for the winner, Makybe Diva!
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.
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!
8. Horses to win the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double are Poseidon 1906, The Trump 1937, Rivette 1939, Rising Fast 1954, Even Stevens 1962, Galilee 1966, Gurner's Lane 1982, Let's Elope 1991, Doriemus 1995, Might And Power 1997 and Ethereal 2001. Makybe Diva, who won the 2004 Melbourne Cup, finished second by a half head to Elvstroem in the Caulfield Cup that year.
9. Horses to have won two Melbourne Cups are Archer 1861-1862, Peter Pan 1932 and 1934, Rain Lover 1968-1969, Think Big 1974-1975 and Makybe Diva 2003-2004.
The longest priced winners are The Pearl 100/1 (1871), Wotan 100/1 (1936), Old Rowley 100/1 (1940) and Rimfire 80/1 (1948).
10. 34 favourites have won the Melbourne Cup. The shortest priced winners were Makybe Diva $3.50 (2004), Archer 2/1 (1862), Revenue 7/4 (1908) and Phar Lap 8/11 odds on (1930). 66 Cup favourites have finished in the first three placings.
11. The heaviest weight carried to victory was by Carbine in 1890 with 10 stone 5lbs (65.5kg).
12. Five year olds have won the race 42 times. Four year olds (41), six year olds (26), three year olds (23), seven year olds (9) and eight year olds (2).The last three year old to win the race was Skipton in 1941. The Lee Freedman trained Makybe Diva who won in 2004 was a 6YO mare. In 2003 when Makybe Diva won the Melbourne Cup as a 5YO mare she was trained by David Hall.
13. Between the time weights are released for the Melbourne Cup and the running of the race most of the Cup hopefuls are not in the race. After the weights have been released for the Melbourne Cup, the last original top weight to win the Cup was Comic Court with nine stone five pounds (59.5kg.) in 1950.
14. Over the last 13 years nine Melbourne Cup winners finished either first or second at their previous start.
15. Historically the best guides to the Melbourne Cup have been the Caulfield Cup and the Mackinnon Stakes. Last year's winner, Makybe Diva, finished a close second in the Caulfield Cup.
16. Jockeys, trainers and horses who have won the Melbourne Cup in the last 10 years are listed below - the jockey is named first, then the trainer and finally the horse.
2005 Glen Boss, Lee Freedman - Makybe Diva
2004 Glen Boss, Lee Freedman - Makybe Diva
2003 Glen Boss, David Hall - Makybe Diva
2002 Damien Oliver, D. Weld - Media Puzzle
2001 Scott Seamer, S. Laxon - Ethereal
2000 Kerrin McEvoy, M. Moroney - Brew
1999 John Marshall, Bart Cummings - Rogan Josh
1998 Chris Munce, B. Jenkins - Jezabeel
1997 Jim Cassidy, J. Denham - Might And Power
1996 Darren Beadman, Bart Cummings - Saintly
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Upcoming Events:
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Sat 14th October:
The Age Caufield Guineas Day
Always a Spring Carnival favourite, Caufield Guineas day is the first big event of
the season. Featuring the $1 Million Caufield Guineas, and two
other Group 1 races (Yalumba Stakes and Toorak Handicap), it promises to
be a fun-filled day of racing!
Cost: Adults $35, Concession $20
(Children U14 free with adult)
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Sat 21st October:
BMW Caufield Cup Day
The $2.5 Million Caufield Cup just seems to get bigger every year! Featuring
6 Group Races, and plenty of trackside entertainment, it is a must in the racing
calendar each year. See stars such as Eremein and
Railings battle it out for the MRC's top prize!
Cost: Adults $45, Concession $25
(Children U14 free with adult)
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Sat 28th October:
Tattersall's Cox Plate Day
The Tattersall's Cox Plate is acknowledged as one of the classic
events of Australian horse racing. Past winners read like a who’s
who of the Australian turf, including Northerly, Sunline, Might & Power, Saintly, Octagonal, Tulloch, and Phar Lap.
Cost: Adults $40, Concession $25
(Children U12 free with adult)
Click here for more packages
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Sat 4th November:
AAMI Victoria Derby Day
AAMI Victoria Derby kicks off the Melbourne Cup carnival in great
style. Last year a record 115,000 people flocked to Flemington for this fabulous
day's racing which in 2006 will feature four Group 1 races.
Cost: Adults $48, Concession $25, Children $8
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Tuesday 7th November:
Emirates Melbourne Cup Day
The $5.1 million Emirates Melbourne Cup is Australia's richest and
most famous horse race and is run at 3pm over 3200 metres. It is the race which brings the nation to a stop.
In 2005, Makybe Diva ridden by Glen Boss wrote herself into the history books as the first horse to win three Melbourne Cups.
Cost: Adults $50, Concession $26, Children $8
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