Trainer: Thomas Brown
Jockey: Tom Hales
Silks: White, Black Sleeves And Cap

Grand Flaneur, sired by Australian champion Yattendon, was bred and owned in NSW by William Long. He won nine successive top-class races before retiring unbeaten, a record no other Melbourne Cup winner has boasted. These victories included the 1880 AJC and the Victoria Derby and the Melbourne Cup. He had a brilliant career at stud, his progeny including Melbourne Cup winners Bravo (1889) and Patron (1894). Another son, Merman, was exported to England and won the Ascot Gold Cup and the Goodwood Cup. Trainer Tom Brown had recently retired as a jockey, having ridden Calamia to win the 1878 Melbourne Cup for Etienne de Mestre. Grand Flaneur provided jockey Tom Hales with his one and only Melbourne Cup win. Hales was the champion jockey of his era. He won the AJC Derby and the Victoria Derby six times and the VRC St Leger on ten occasions.

Trainer: Tom Lamond
Jockey: Jim Gough
Silks: White, Royal Blue Striped Sleeves, Quartered Cap

Zulu’s Melbourne Cup victory was unexpected: the horse was small, his form was moderate and he seemed lame before the start. His owner, grazier Charles McDonell of Mondrook, Taree, had sent his colt to the successful Sydney stable of Tom Lamond only a year earlier, after Zulu won a maiden race at home. Lamond had learned his craft working with Etienne de Mestre and had been responsible for Archer in the horse’s campaigns in Melbourne. With Lamond as mentor, Zulu won in modest company at Parramatta, Hawkesbury and Randwick, showing enough promise to take him to Melbourne. The 1881 Cup was marred by a fall when a dog ran onto the track. The lightweight jockey Jim Gough, 14 at the time, avoided the fall, and won at odds of 33/1. The better fancied stablemate, Wheatear, was one of three horses who fell. Jim Gough’s younger brother, Jack, won the Melbourne Cup on The Grafter in 1898.

Trainer: John Eden Savill
Jockey: Charles Hutchins
Silks: Black, Gold Sash, Rose Sleeves, White Cap

The Assyrian, bred in South Australia, first raced in Adelaide with little success as Rothschild before being sold at auction. His new owner, John Eden Savill, changed the name and won the 1880 South Australian Derby. Savill was an accomplished English artist and horseman who briefly ran Adelaide’s famous Lockleys Stud. As the cartoonist ‘Cerberus’, Savill regularly published satirical drawings in an Adelaide magazine. At Lockleys he was respected as a mentor to his brother-in-law, C. Leslie Macdonald, and to Hugh Munro, both of whom were later associated with the success of St Albans Stud, Geelong. Savill returned to England soon after his Cup success. In 1883 The Assyrian won the Hobart Cup and then had a short stud career. A son, Bothwell, won the 1888 Toorak Handicap. Charles Hutchins was a South Australian jockey who later rode in Mauritius and Western Australia.     

Trainer: Michael Fennelly
Jockey: John (Jack) Williamson
Silks: Royal Blue, White Sleeves, Quartered Cap

Martini-Henry was the first New Zealand-bred horse to win the Melbourne Cup, victorious in 1883 in record time. Three days earlier he had won the Victoria Derby—at his first race start. He followed later that week with the VRC Mares Produce Stakes and, in autumn 1884, the VRC St Leger. These were his sole wins. Bred by the Auckland Stud Company, Martini-Henry (named after a rifle) was sired by Musket from Sylvia, the 1867 VRC Oaks winner. He was bought as a yearling for a record 1250 guineas by New South Wales pastoralist, the Hon. James White who had won the Melbourne Cup with Chester (1877) and was trained in Sydney by Michael Fennelly at White’s Newmarket Stables, Randwick. Retired to Kirkham Stud, Martini-Henry was sold after White’s death in 1890. Best of his progeny included Jacinth, dam of the champion racehorse Poseidon. Martini-Henry died in Queensland in 1903 just outside Longreach. The Cup was the biggest career win for jockey Jack Williamson, who later rode in India.

Trainer: Isaac Foulsham
Jockey: Aleck Robertson
Silks: Royal Blue, Crimson Sash

Malua is arguably Australia’s most versatile thoroughbred ever. He was bred in Tasmania by John Field, who also bred Sheet Anchor (Melbourne Cup 1885). At two years, originally named Bagot, he won at his first start. Under a new name and ownership, on the mainland he won the 1884 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield and the VRC Newmarket Handicap (Australia’s premier sprints). He possessed the endurance to then win the two-mile Adelaide Cup followed by the Spring Stakes at Randwick. His Melbourne Cup win of 1884 was followed by the VRC Australian Cup (2¼ miles). He was retired to the stud—but he resumed racing, and at nine years he won the 1888 Grand National Hurdle of about three miles at Flemington. Unplaced in the following Melbourne Cup, his final triumph was the 1889 Geelong Gold Cup. Among his progeny were the 1891 Melbourne Cup winner, Malvolio and his full sister Maluma who won top races in England. New South Wales trainer Isaac Foulsham won a second Melbourne Cup with Kingsburgh in 1914. Geelong-born jockey Aleck Robertson lost his life in a race fall at Randwick in 1888 at the age of 28.

Trainer: Tommy Wilson
Jockey: Mick O’Brien
Silks: White And Green Stripes, Red Cap

Unlucky for some: prominent racehorse owner and former Tasmanian Premier, Thomas Reibey, of Entally House, Tasmania, narrowly lost the 1882 Melbourne Cup with Stockwell to The Assyrian. Subsequently, Reibey sold him and his full brother—Malua—who went on the win the 1884 Melbourne Cup. Reibey also passed up the opportunity to buy Sheet Anchor at auction as a yearling fearing he had been ‘run up’. Sheet Anchor was raced by the Irish-born Ballarat mining magnate, Martin Loughlin, trained at Dowling Forest, Ballarat, by Tommy Wilson who trained a second Melbourne Cup winner in 1889, Bravo. Jockey Mick O’Brien was among the outstanding Victorian jockeys of his day, winning a second Cup on Mentor in 1888. O’Brien was the regular rider of Carbine until chronic asthma brought about his retirement, and his early death in 1892.  

Trainer: Harry (Harry) Rayner
Jockey: William English
Silks: Maroon And Cream Stripes, Maroon Cap

A horse who raced with tender feet throughout his career, Arsenal was considered a lucky winner of the Cup. A son of 1875 Melbourne Cup placegetter, Goldsborough, he had only two career wins. He was first raced by Gippsland pastoralist and politician, the Hon. William Pearson, who sold him after an inglorious run in the 1885 Melbourne Cup. The new owner was NSW publican and prolific owner of racehorses, William Gannon. Harry Rayner at Randwick trained the horse quietly over the next year, helped by his regular young rider, Billy English, without racing him, so the Cup victory after this long spell came as a surprise to many. Arsenal held off by a long neck the good New Zealand horse, Trenton, who had finished third the previous year. Arsenal was sold to the stud in Tasmania in 1889. His best son was Murmur who won the Caulfield Cup in 1904 for owner John Wren.

Trainer: John Nicholson
Jockey: Tommy Sanders
Silks: Red, Black Sleeves And Cap

Dunlop, a NSW-bred winner at Flemington as a two-year-old in 1885, subsequently lost form before being purchased in mid-1886 by Richard Donovan, licensee of the Pastoral Hotel near Flemington, on the advice of jockey, Tommy Sanders. The owner won a unique Melbourne Cup trophy—a mounted gold horseshoe. Reliable rumours said that Sanders had a part ownership in the horse, and he certainly backed it to win the Cup, which was not forbidden under the rules at the time. Sanders was 22: he had a long career in the saddle, and later as a trainer. He famously rode Lord Wilton to success when the 1885 Adelaide Cup was run at Flemington. Trainer John Nicholson was just 28 when Dunlop won the race, having been mentored by Joe Morrison, who rode the 1869 Melbourne Cup winner.

Trainer: Walter Hickenbotham
Jockey: Mick O’Brien
Silks: Black, White Sleeves, Scarlet Cap

Mentor’s Melbourne Cup was known as the Centennial Cup in the hundredth anniversary year of European settlement in Australia. Melbourne was at the height of a property boom: it was a time of extravagance and no expense spared. The VRC lifted the prize for the race by 3000 sovereigns making this the richest handicap race in the world. With the prize money, Mentor’s owner Donald Wallace purchased the rising New Zealand champion colt, Carbine, and raced him for the rest of his turf career. Trainer Walter Hickenbotham, born in Bathurst NSW, had only recently moved to Melbourne. Mentor was the first of his four Melbourne Cup winners. This was Mick O’Brien’s second Melbourne Cup win, having been successful on Sheet Anchor in 1885. O’Brien became the regular rider of Carbine until chronic asthma forced his retirement from the saddle in 1890. Mentor was a half-brother of Insomnia, dam of the great race mare, Wakeful.    

Trainer: Tommy Wilson
Jockey: John (Jack) Anwin
Silks: Yellow And Black Diamonds, Quartered Cap

A son of the 1880 Melbourne Cup champion, Grand Flaneur, Bravo is best remembered as a high-quality racehorse who beat the rising champion of the day, Carbine, into second place in the Cup of 1889. Bravo had previously finished third in the Caulfield Cup and second in the Melbourne Stakes three days before the Melbourne Cup. Collingwood-born lightweight Jack Anwin was about 20 when he won the Cup, his first big race win, having been first apprenticed to James Scobie at Ballarat. This was the second Melbourne Cup win for trainer Tommy Wilson at Dowling Forest, Ballarat. Bravo was owned by William Thomas Jones, a Welshman who had made and lost a fortune in mining speculation in Ballarat, and made it back again, and more, before retiring to London. He was not in Australia when his horse won the Cup. Jones is remembered today as a generous benefactor to the town of his birth, Aberystwith.   

Trainer: Walter Hickenbotham
Jockey: Robert Ramage
Silks: Black, White Sleeves, Scarlet Cap

When the New Zealand-bred Carbine won the 1890 Melbourne Cup in a record field of 39 starters, carrying an all-time record weight of 10 stone 5 pounds (65.77 kg) and setting a new race record, he was registering his 27th win in 36 starts. This alone earned him legend status in Australian racing and Melbourne Cup history, to be rivalled in fame only by the 1930 winner, Phar Lap. Added to this was a stellar career at stud, first in Australia, then in England after owner Donald Wallace sold him for a then Australian record sum to the Duke of Portland. He began a dynasty of champion racehorses and sires, and most horses who race in Melbourne Cups in the 21st century can claim Carbine as an ancestor. This was trainer Hickenbotham’s second of four Cup wins. Jockey Bob Ramage had the good fortune to take the 1890 Cup ride after Carbine’s regular jockey, Mick O’Brien, retired from riding because of ill health.

Trainer: James Redfearn
Jockey: George Redfearn
Silks: Royal Blue And Black Hoops, Royal Blue Cap

James Redfearn bred, owned and trained Malvolio, son of 1884 Melbourne Cup winner Malua, to win the 1891 Melbourne Cup. Redfearn’s 17-year-old son George rode him to victory, the boy’s first ride at Flemington. The runner-up, Strathmore, was unlucky to lose, suffering interference in the straight. With his winnings, James purchased the Nagambie property, Chatsworth Park, where he had once worked as a stablehand. George’s later career took him to India and Malaya. From 1926 he officiated for Singapore racing, evacuating just before the Japanese invasion in 1942, leaving his Cup trophy behind. Miraculously it was retrieved after the war. Malvolio’s full sister Maluma, a top sprinter, was exported to England and won good races there. A half-sister, Vanity Fair was placed in both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups of 1902.

Trainer: Michael Carmody
Jockey: George Robson
Silks:Black And Red Hoops, Black Cap

Rain fell heavily all day on Cup Day 1892. The horses raced through the heaviest conditions, their jockeys’ colours indistinguishable to racegoers in the stands. Three horses fell in the running. The winner, Glenloth, was a rank outsider at odds at 50/1 after recovering from injury earlier in the year. Malvolio, the previous winner and favourite, was never a hope. Glenloth had won good races earlier in his career and was suited by the muddy conditions. He raced under the nomination of his Irish-born trainer, but was owned by James Urquhart, a prosperous Collingwood dairyman, not ‘a milkman’ as legend later suggested. Ballarat jockey George Robson was a late replacement for the horse’s regular jockey. He had no other big wins in his career. Injury plagued Glenloth and after a failed attempt at a comeback in 1894 he was retired to the stud at Mount Gambier.

Trainer: Joseph Cripps
Jockey: Herbert (Bert) Cripps
Silks: Royal Blue And Gold Spots, Gold Cap

As with Don Juan in 1873 and Malvolio in 1891, it was a case of a father-and-son combination as winning owner-trainer and jockey when Tarcoola won the Cup. Bert Cripps, the jockey, had started race riding at age 11 and was 16 when he won the Cup—and the horse was seven. Steadily gaining weight, Bert Cripps had to retire from riding at 18, described as a ‘tall, strapping fellow’. Joe Cripps, the trainer, had arrived in Melbourne from England in the 1870s already with racing experience. He worked for trainer Sam Harding and later took over Harding’s Moonee Ponds stables. The 1893 Cup was his greatest success, although four years earlier Tarcoola had won the prestigious Williamstown Cup. Tarcoola was sired by the inaugural Caulfield Cup winner, Newminster. In the Melbourne Cup, he started at long odds and beat the Victoria Derby winner, Carnage—who, as a three-quarter brother to Carbine, went on to have an international career at the stud.

Trainer: Richard Bradfield
Jockey: Horace G. Dawes
Silks: Black, Red Seams And Cap

Following an impressive win in the Melbourne Stakes the previous Saturday, Ruenalf was sent out 3/1 favourite for the Cup. While all the focus was on Ruenalf, it was his younger full-brother, Patron, who saluted in Australia’s most important race. Ruenalf finished unplaced. They were sons of the 1880 Melbourne Cup winner, Grand Flaneur. This was the first of four Melbourne Cup training victories by Richard Bradfield. Patron was ridden by 17-year-old Horace Dawes, son of Harry ‘Chifney’ Dawes who rode Banker to victory in 1863. Patron’s victory was the first occasion where a father and son had each ridden a winner of the Cup. Horace went on to other good wins but at the age of 22 was killed in an accident at Wangaratta racecourse when leading a horse to trackwork.

Trainer: John Hill
Jockey: John Stevenson
Silks: Royal Blue, Canary Sleeves, Red Cap

Auraria was one of the great fillies of Australian racing history, winning 10 of her 24 starts. In Melbourne Cup week 1895 she ran third to Wallace in the Derby, then won the Melbourne Cup and the VRC Oaks before dead-heating with Wallace in the C.B. Fisher Plate on the final Saturday. She is one of only three 3YO fillies to win the Melbourne Cup, in company with Briseis (1876) and Sister Olive (1921). Auraria was sired by Trenton, twice a placegetter in Melbourne Cups. She was owned by David James, one of the original prospectors who founded the Broken Hill Proprietary company. Like James, John Henry Hill was a South Australian, original trainer of The Assyrian (Melbourne Cup 1882) when the horse raced as Rothschild. Jack Stevenson, the lightweight jockey, 18 when he won the Cup, was born in NSW. He later rode overseas before returning to Australia as a horse trainer. He lost his life in a railway accident in 1921.

Trainer: Walter Hickenbotham
Jockey: Harry J. Gardiner
Silks: Yellow And Black Diamonds, Yellow Cap

Newhaven was a champion in both Australia and England. Foaled at St Albans, Geelong, he won five races at two years in Melbourne and Sydney including the VRC Maribyrnong Plate and Ascot Vale Stakes. Sold at three, he won ten of 13 starts including the Victoria Derby and the 1896 Melbourne Cup, both by large margins, ‘daylight second’. The Cup featured in the first moving pictures recorded in Australia. In 1897 Newhaven won the VRC Champion Stakes, Loch Plate, and the AJC All Aged and St Leger. Sent to England, he triumphed as Newhaven II in the 1899 City and Suburban Handicap and Epsom Gold Cup, finishing third in the Goodwood Cup and Ascot Gold Cup. Queries over his colonial dam’s pedigree (she traced to 1863 Melbourne Cup placegetter Musidora) ruled him ineligible for the English Stud Book. Returning to Australia, his stud opportunities were few. This was trainer Walter Hickenbotham’s third of four Melbourne Cup wins. Jockey Harry Gardiner, 24 when he won the Cup, rode regularly for the trainer, his later career taking him to India, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Trainer: William Forrester
Jockey: Stephen Callinan
Silks: Crimson, White Sleeves And Cap

For the first time, two stablemates (and two equine full brothers) ran the quinella—first and second places—in the Melbourne Cup, separated at the finish by a half head. This was another NSW victory: Gaulus was bred by John R. Smith at Tucka Tucka Stud near Wagga Wagga, as was the runner-up, The Grafter. The owner-trainer of both horses, William Forrester, had created Sydney’s Warwick Farm originally as a stud farm and training track before it opened as a racetrack in 1889. He engaged veteran trainer Noah Beale as his righthand man in 1890 and they prepared 1892 Melbourne Cup placegetters Ronda and Penance. Winning rider Steve Callinan,19 when he won the Cup, was originally from Inverell, member of a family of jockeys.

Trainer: William Forrester
Jockey: Jack Gough
Silks: Crimson, White Sleeves And Cap

The Grafter had finished second to his full-brother, Gaulus, the previous year before winning the race himself in 1898. Both horses were bred by John R. Smith at Tucka Tucka Stud near Wagga Wagga and were raced and trained by William Forrester, assisted by veteran trainer Noah Beale, at his Sydney property, Warwick Farm. The Grafter became one of several Australian horses of his era to race with success both in Australia and England. After taking the Melbourne Cup and C.B. Fisher Plate, The Grafter was sold to a racing partnership named ‘J.G. Clarke’ and, with trainer Jack Brewer, went to England. He won the rich City and Suburban Handicap at Epsom in 1900 and finished third to fellow Australian, Merman, in the Ascot Gold Cup. His owner retired the gelding in England in 1902. Winning Cup jockey Jack (John Richard) Gough’s brother Jim rode the 1881 winner, Zulu.  

Trainer: James Wilson Jnr
Jockey: Vivian Turner
Silks: Brown, White Cap

James Wilson, trainer of Merriwee and son of James Wilson the founder of St Albans Stud, Geelong had himself come close, twice, to winning a Melbourne Cup when riding as a lightweight lad for his father in the 1870s, placed on Lapdog (1870) and Romula (1871). He grew into a strapping footballer, hero of Geelong Football Club, and also a formidable horse trainer. Herbert Power, owner of Merriwee, had previously owned the St Albans-trained Savanaka, unluckily beaten in the 1877 Melbourne Cup. A prominent pastoralist, Power was a founder of the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, and his memory has been long honoured at Caulfield with a feature race in his name. Merriwee won the Cup on a heavy track three days after winning the Victoria Derby. Jockey Viv Turner was 19 when he won the Cup: his later career was chiefly in Western Australia. 

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