Trainer: Etienne de Mestre
Jockey: Johnny Cutts (Dillon)
Silks: Black 

It became part of later Melbourne Cup folklore that Archer walked from Nowra to Flemington. Not so: he travelled from NSW on board the SS City of Sydney which transported several Cup runners to Melbourne. He had been bred near Braidwood, was first trained near Nowra, and showed his early abilities at Randwick. Archer won the first Melbourne Cup in convincing style having been stabled behind the Botanical Hotel in South Yarra in the lead up to the race. Archer started 6/1 second favourite and won by six lengths. He was ridden by his regular Sydney jockey, John Cutts (real name Dillon). This first Melbourne Cup was run on Thursday 7 November in sombre circumstances. News of the tragic end to the Burke and Wills expedition had just reached Melbourne. The first Cup started back on the course proper, and congestion on the first turn resulted in a three-horse fall. This paved the way for the introduction of the long Flemington straight for the 1862 Cup, starting closer to Epsom Road, leaving a generous 800 metre run to the first turn.

Trainer: Etienne de Mestre
Jockey: Johnny Cutts (Dillon)
Silks:  Black

After winning the Cup in 1861, Archer returned from NSW the following year to win Australia’s latest racing attraction for a second time. Starting at 2/1 favourite, Archer won the race with ease by at least eight lengths, with John Cutts again the rider. For the second time he beat local hero, Mormon, ridden by Joe Morrison. With these consecutive Cup victories in highly competitive fields, Archer was hailed as the undisputed champion stayer in Australia. For this second win he carried the challenging impost of 10 stone 2 pounds (64.4 kg). Only two other horses have carried 10 stone or more to victory in the history of the Melbourne Cup—Carbine (10 stone 5 pounds, in 1890) and Poitrel (10 stone, in 1920). Tom Lamond, who later trained 1881 Melbourne Cup winner Zulu, was de Mestre’s right-hand man in charge of the day-to-day training of Archer.

Trainer: Sam Waldock
Jockey: Harry Chifney (Henry Dawes)
Silks: Green, Red Sleeves, White Cap

Archer was entered for a third Melbourne Cup, and was allotted a huge handicap weight, but his acceptance reached the Victoria Turf Club office late, on a public holiday, and was controversially rejected. With only seven starters, the field for the 1863 Cup ended up as the smallest ever in the history of the race, and the winner carried the lightest winning weight on record (5 stone 4 pounds—just 33.5 kg). But this was a better class field than it appeared. Second in the race, Musidora went on to produce the filly Briseis (the 1876 Melbourne Cup winner) and she was great grandmother of Newhaven (1896 Melbourne Cup). Third placegetter, Rose of Denmark, became the dam of Australian champions Florence, Hamlet and Horatio. Harry ‘Chifney’ took his riding name from a famous English jockey of the day. His son, Horace Dawes, born in 1877, rode the 1894 Melbourne Cup winner, Patron. Banker’s English-born trainer, Sam Waldock, was a former jockey and a top horseman who became Master of the Melbourne Hunt Club. 

Trainer: William Filgate
Jockey: Sam Davis
Silks: Rose And Black Stripes, Black Cap

The ill-fated colt Lantern had a short but brilliant racing career, with four outstanding wins. Foaled in South Australia, bred and raced by Hurtle Fisher, he was trained in Melbourne by William Filgate at Maribyrnong Stud—not by Stephen Mahon as many later records claim. Lantern showed promise as a two-year-old, finishing second at his first start in the VRC Ascot Vale Stakes. The attempt to race him when still two against older horses in the VRC All Aged Stakes and in autumn in the inaugural Adelaide Cup, 1864, proved too ambitious, but at three he was unbeatable. He became the first horse to win the double of the Melbourne Cup and VRC Derby (in that sequence), adding the Publicans’ Purse at Flemington. Winning jockey Sam P. Davis was 16 at the time. Three weeks later, Lantern effortlessly took the Ballarat Derby. Hailed now as the rising champion, the next day he was fatally injured in the running of the Ballarat Cup. A half-sister, My Dream, won both the Victoria Derby and VRC Oaks in 1868.

Trainer: Pat Miley
Jockey: John Kavanagh
Silks: Black, White Cap

In a roughly run race, the lightly weighted Toryboy, an eight-year-old grey gelding trained at South Melbourne by Irish-born Pat Miley, proved too strong for the well fancied imported Panic and landed substantial wagers for his owner. A handsome Cup trophy was presented, but the owner sold it as a ‘monstrosity’ and promptly left the colony, leaving unpaid debts behind him. The ornate silver cup was repurposed as a steeplechase trophy at Flemington and was then taken to England, where it remained for more than a century. In 1992 the South Australian vigneron, Wolf Blass, bought it at auction. Recent historical research suggests that the winning jockey was not ‘Eugene Kavanagh’ (as often listed) but rather the same John Kavanagh who won again in 1871, on The Pearl. If so, he was twelve when winning on Toryboy: not impossible, as small boys rode lightweights in that era. Peter ‘St Albans’ Bowden was even younger when he won the Cup on Briseis in 1876.

Trainer: John Tait
Jockey: William Davis
Silks: Canary, Black Cap

The Barb was known as ‘The Black Demon’ for his outstanding ability and—especially early in his career—for his temperamental behaviour. Bred in NSW by George Lee, he won the AJC Derby and the Mares Produce Stakes at Randwick before coming down to Melbourne to win the Cup as a 3YO. He provided ‘Honest’ John Tait with the first of four Cup victories as owner-trainer. No third placegetter was semaphored by the judge, but this was rectified by stewards who declared that Falcon had finished third, behind Exile. The Barb went on to win the Great Metropolitan Stakes, the Sydney Cup twice and the AJC Queen’s Plate. At stud he sired Sweetmeat, two times a Melbourne Cup placegetter. The Sydney jockey William Davis was just 15 when he won the Melbourne Cup on The Barb.

Trainer: Etienne de Mestre
Jockey: John Driscoll
Silks:  Black  

The 1867 Melbourne Cup is remembered as the year when ‘Sydney Tim’ took on and defeated ‘Melbourne Tim’. The unusual situation was presented when two horses named Tim Whiffler (after a character in a Charles Dickens novel) took to the post for the running of the Cup. Despite stating he would never return after the 1863 entries controversy with Archer, Etienne de Mestre brought ‘Sydney Tim’ (sired by New Warrior) to Flemington and secured his third of five wins in the race as trainer. ‘Sydney Tim’ won many races at Flemington and Randwick. Confusing matters further, an imported English stallion also called Tim Whiffler (by Van Galen) became sire of the Melbourne Cup winners Briseis (1876) and Darriwell (1879). Winning jockey John Driscoll was himself the son of a jockey, and he notably rode two winners at the Australian Jockey Club’s opening meeting at Randwick in 1860. 

Trainer: John Tait
Jockey: Charles Stanley
Silks: Canary, Black Cap

Glencoe was the second of four horses trained by John Tait to win a Melbourne Cup. Between 1867 and 1870 the strong, unruly chestnut accumulated multiple principal races in Sydney and Melbourne. His breeder, Richard Dines of Singleton, raced him at two years before transferring him at three to Tait. The colt finished second in the AJC Derby. In spring 1868, Glencoe won five times in the space of four consecutive days at Flemington, beginning with the Melbourne Cup, concluding with the three-mile Queen’s Plate. Strop narrowly beat him in the 1869 Launceston Champion Race. Passing through several owners and trainers, Glencoe took the 1869 Melbourne Stakes and the 1870 VRC All Aged Stakes. Unplaced in the 1870 and 1871 Melbourne Cups, he ended his career with narrow defeats at Geelong and Adelaide. He stood one season at stud at Glenrowan in 1873. Sydney jockey Charles Stanley was 19 when he won the Cup.

Trainer: Robert Standish Sevior
Jockey: Joe Morrison
Silks:  Silver And Black Stripes, Scarlet Cap

This was the best horse that Flemington trainer Robert Sevior prepared in a career that extended to the 1890s: Sybil finished second for him in 1876. Scottish-born Joe Morrison was one of the top jockeys of his day, later a successful trainer. The owner, Austin Saqui, was a prominent Melbourne bookmaker who bought Warrior for £400 after the horse finished third in the 1869 two-mile Randwick ‘Great Metropolitan Handicap’: a month later the owner reputedly won more than £11,000 in wagers, plus prize money, when the horse won the Melbourne Cup. Saqui, an accomplished Liverpool-born boy pianist, had come to Australia aged 20 during the 1850s gold rush, but found bookmaking more lucrative than music or gold. He was one of several racing men injured in a train derailment near Cootamundra in 1887. Two years later he died from an accidental overdose of sleeping medication.

Trainer: William Lang
Jockey: John Day
Silks: Violet, Gold Cap

This Cup is remembered as ‘The Dream Cup’. The owner of Tasmanian-bred Nimblefoot, Ballarat publican Walter Craig, had dreamt soon before his death in September 1870 that his horse would win the Melbourne Cup, the jockey wearing his colours but with a black armband, symbol of mourning. Two months later the dream came true. Trainer Billy Lang, an accomplished, eternally argumentative horseman, was part of racing in Melbourne from its earliest days until his death in 1900. He was an early trainer of the 1875 Cup winner, Wollomai. Jockey Johnny Day, 16 when he won the Cup on Nimblefoot, had already found fame as a boy prodigy ‘pedestrian’ (walking race) champion, winning contests against adult competitors in both Australia and England. Contrary to recent speculation, Day did not ‘disappear’ after winning the Cup. He continued riding throughout the 1870s, dying from illness in rural Victoria in 1885.   

Trainer: John Tait
Jockey: John Kavanagh
Silks: Black, Canary Cap

Owner-trainer John Tait had two runners in the 1871 Cup, The Pearl and Pyrrhus. Tait preferred Pyrrhus on his good form in Sydney, so The Pearl drifted to be 100/1. A scrimmage eventuated halfway through the race causing Pyrrhus and the local favourite, Romula, to lose valuable ground. The Pearl escaped all the interference and saluted accordingly. Victorian-born jockey Kavanagh had moved to Sydney and joined the Tait stable in the late 1860s. The Pearl was the first 100/1 winner of the Melbourne Cup. He was later followed by Wotan (1936), Old Rowley (1940) and Prince of Penzance (2015). This was Tait’s third of four Melbourne Cup wins. Victorian-born jockey John Kavanagh rode in NSW for several years before returning to Victoria as a trainer. Despite contrary theories, Kavanagh was likely to have been the boy jockey who won the 1865 Cup on Toryboy.

Trainer: John Tait
Jockey: William Enderson
Silks:  Canary, Black Cap

The Quack was a younger half-brother to 1870 Melbourne Cup winner, Nimblefoot. Both had been bred in Tasmania by John Lord, who sold them as young horses. Well performed in Sydney, The Quack started at 10/1 in the 1872 Cup, and defeated The Ace, trained by rival Etienne de Mestre. This gave Tait his fourth winner in the Melbourne Cup, and it was The Quack’s best career victory. The locally trained Dagworth was favourite and finished third. On a warm day, the crowd, estimated at 40,000, was said to the largest seen to that time at Flemington: numbers on Melbourne Cup Day would approach 100,000 by the end of the 1870s. William Enderson, himself the son of a jockey, was 16 when he won the Cup.

Trainer: James Wilson 
Jockey: William Wilson
Silks: Black, White Cap

Don Juan, bred in South Australia but owned, raced and trained in Victoria, was an iron horse who won three races in three successive days in November 1873 at Flemington including the Melbourne Cup. He raced in the ownership of ‘Mr W. Johnstone’ (sometimes ‘Johnson’), who in reality was Joe Thomson, Melbourne’s most conspicuous bookmaker. Thomson won so handsomely on the race that he directed some winnings to charity and build himself a mansion townhouse in East Melbourne which he named Don Juan House. James Wilson also profited from the race and relocated from Hamilton to create the famous St Albans Stud at Geelong. Jockey William Wilson, 14 when he won the Cup, was the younger son of the trainer and—like his older brother, James junior, who had ridden in previous Melbourne Cups—grew into a successful Australian Rules footballer at Geelong Football Club. James junior trained the 1899 Cup winner, Merriwee.

Trainer: Sam Harding
Jockey: Paddy Piggott
Silks: Royal Blue, Black Cap

Haricot was a plain looking foal bred by Western District pastoralist Andrew Chirnside, who with his brother Thomas established the famed Werribee Park mansion. The horse was sired by the imported stallion Ladykirk who also sired the Caulfield Cup and Newmarket Handicap winner, Tom Kirk, second to Calamia in the 1878 Melbourne Cup. Sam Harding was Chirnside’s trainer, based at Moonee Ponds, and he mentored jockey Pigott from the time when the lad reportedly rode horses as a mail courier for the Chirnsides. Pigott’s career flourished during the next decade: he travelled widely and he rode a second Melbourne Cup winner (Chester, for Etienne de Mestre) in 1877. His later career took him to Queensland. Andrew Chirnside also bred the 1900 Cup winner, Clean Sweep.

Trainer: Stephen Moon
Jockey: Robert Batty
Silks: Grey, Gold Sleeves, Grey Cap

For the first time, in 1875 the Melbourne Cup was run on a Tuesday. The spelling of the winning horse’s name causes confusion. It derives from Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island where the horse’s owner-breeder, John Cleeland, owned property and subsequently built his ‘Woolamai House’ homestead. Cleeland had made his fortune from the Albion Hotel in Bourke Street, Melbourne, near the horse saleyards, Kirk’s Bazaar, a centre for racing enthusiasts. Wollomai raced in the ownership of ‘Mr H. Sharpe’, Cleeland’s racing name. Only months before the race, Stephen Moon took over the training of Wollomai from Billy Lang (trainer of 1870 winner, Nimblefoot). Scottish-born jockey Bob Batty, 20 at the time he won the Cup, was at the peak of his career, having won the first VRC Newmarket Handicap in 1874. Batty later turned to riding in jumps races, winning the VRC Grand National Steeplechase at Flemington, in 1881 and again in 1891.  

Trainer: James Wilson
Jockey: Peter St Albans (Bowden)
Silks: Black, White Cap

The three-year-old filly Briseis holds the unique record of winning the Victoria Derby, Melbourne Cup and Oaks, and all in the one week. This was the first year when the Melbourne Cup Carnival took its traditional form of Derby Day (Saturday), Cup Day (Tuesday), Oaks Day (Thursday) and a final Saturday. James Wilson bred, owned and trained the filly. She was sired by the imported English horse, Tim Whiffler, from the mare Musidora, second to Banker in the 1863 Cup. As a two-year-old, Briseis won the prestigious Doncaster Handicap in Sydney. For her Derby and Oaks wins at Flemington she was ridden by champion jockey Tom Hales, but he was too heavy to ride at the allotted weight of 6 stone 4 pounds (about 40 kg) in the Cup. The Cup ride went to the stableboy jockey, Peter Bowden, who always rode under the name of Peter St Albans. He is the youngest jockey ever to win the Cup. On the day he was just short of turning 12. Peter rode the runner-up in the following year’s Cup and again in 1880.

Trainer: Etienne de Mestre
Jockey: Paddy Piggott
Silks: Light Blue, White Sleeves, Quartered Cap

A son of the famous colonial sire Yattendon, Chester became a superstar of the Australian turf in the late 1870s, winning a dozen principal races and initiating an exceptional run of racing success for his wealthy Sydney owner, the Hon. James White. The breeder, Edward King Cox, had sold Chester as a yearling to White for a large sum. Etienne de Mestre trained the horse, his fourth winner of the Cup. Early wins by Chester had included the AJC Champagne Stakes, Breeders Plate and Sires Produce. His three-year-old wins included the 1877 Victoria Derby, followed by the Melbourne Cup in race record time. This was the second Cup win for local jockey, Paddy Pigott. Widely publicised, the horse’s owner collected a fortune on this race from flamboyant bookmaker Joe Thompson. As a sire, Chester had conspicuous success, his best son the champion Abercorn. Chester died at White’s Kirkham Stud in November 1891.

Trainer: Etienne de Mestre
Jockey: Thomas Brown
Silks: Black  

Calamia had already won long-distance races in Sydney and Melbourne before he won the Melbourne Cup, first up after a six-month spell. Owned and trained by the Melbourne Cup maestro, Etienne De Mestre, Calamia landed him some substantial wagers. Calamia carried a good horse’s weight and gave de Mestre back-to-back victories and his fifth Cup success. Calamia was a son of Maribyrnong, an outstanding Australian sire, but was the only one of his offspring to win a Melbourne Cup. Two other sons were Cup placegetters (The Diver, 1874 and Richmond, 1875). Jockey Tom Brown, from Maitland NSW, turned to training soon after winning the 1878 Cup, and he prepared champion Grand Flaneur to win the race in 1880. He is unique in Cup history by winning the race as both a jockey and a trainer.

Trainer: William E. Dakin
Jockey: Sam Cracknell
Silks: Black, Canary Sleeves And Cap

Darriwell was sired by the imported British horse Tim Whiffler and was bred in Victoria by John Ord Inglis, who sold the colt as a yearling to Tasmanian businessman William Guesdon. Described at first as lightly framed, hollow backed and plain looking, Darriwell raced with little success in Hobart before being sent to be trained in Melbourne by W.E. Dakin, a former British cavalry officer. Despite several good wins by Darriwell at Flemington, Dakin preferred the stablemate Le Loup in the 1879 Cup, so Darriwell won at long odds of 33/1. Sammy Cracknell, a small red-headed man with a flowing beard, was one of the most astute and popular jockeys in his day.