Adorning a wall of the Betting Ring at Flemington Racecourse are the racing colours of a select few Melbourne Cup winning horses. With 159 Melbourne Cup races run so far, there are 153 horses that have stopped our two nations on the first Tuesday in November. The 28 horses featured on the wall here each have unique attributes, their reason for being featured. On every tour we stop to take a look at them but there is a lot to discuss and not every guest is deeply interested so we usually only cover the basics of the more prominent names on display.
We wanted to delve a bit deeper though, to provide the information for those who are interested in learning more about these horses and what makes them worthy of being remembered in this way.
The order of appearance from left to right also coincides with the chronological order in which each horse won their Melbourne Cup/s. Our descriptions will follow the same order.
Rising Fast
Winner of the 1954 Melbourne Cup. Trained by Ivan Tucker. Ridden by Jack Purtell as his regular jockey, Bill Williamson, had been injured in their Caulfield Stakes ride a few weeks earlier.
A bay gelding bred by Frank and Bruce Robertson at Platform Lodge Farm at Greytown on New Zealand’s North Island, Rising Fast was born in 1949. His sire was the British-born Alonso and his dam the New Zealand bred Faster. He was the first racehorse purchased by an accountant from Whakatane, New Zealand, a Mr Leicester R. Spring.
Rising Fast was initially trained in New Zealand and raced there over the shorter Sprint distances, covering anywhere from 5 to 11 furlongs (1,000-2,200 metres). His first 23 starts took place in New Zealand for a total of seven wins, five 2nd and one 3rd; he was unplaced in ten. A controversial suspension in New Zealand saw his owner send him to race in Australia.
Now a 4-year-old, his first appearance in Australia was the 6½ furlong (1300m) Flying Handicap at Queenland’s Doomben race track on 5 June 1954, in which Rising Fast came 2nd. All of his next four races took place in Queensland at either Doomben or Eagle Farm before coming to Melbourne for the Spring Racing carnival of 1954.
The Spring Grand Slam is the feat of winning the Caulfield Cup, WS Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup. In his lead-up to the Melbourne Cup, Rising Fast won the Caulfield Field Cup on October 16 and the W S Cox Plate on October 23.
On Melbourne Cup Day, Tuesday November 2nd, 1954 Rising Fast made history. He carried the top weight of 9 stone 5 pounds (59.5kg) owing to his most recent wins. He started the race as 5-2 favourite in a field of 25 horses (after 4 scratchings). The track was good and Rising Fast won comfortably by one and quarter lengths in a time of 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Rising Fast became the first horse to win the Spring Grand Slam in the same year. He was the fourth horse to win the Cups double (Caulfield and Melbourne Cups).
Over the same Spring racing carnival Rising Fast also achieved victory on October 2 in the Turnbull Stakes; on 13 October in the Caulfield Stakes; on 30 October in the Mackinnon Stakes.
Rising Fast returned to the Caulfield Cup the following Spring having won only 2 from 12 starts so far in 1955. Now a 6-year-old, he won his second (back-to-back) Caulfield Cup at 11-2 odds and carrying a record weight of 9 stone 10 pounds (61.5kg). But a week later, he finished 6th in the W S Cox Plate.
Rising Fast was penalised for his second Caulfield Cup win and was again given the top weight, this time 10 stone (63.5kg) for his second Melbourne Cup – not one of the other 23 horses carried more than 9 stone. On a wet and heavy track, Rising Fast finished in second place behind fellow New Zealander horse, Toparoa. In fact, it was an all Kiwi finish with 3 New Zealand horses taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
This second placed Melbourne Cup finish was very controversial. Rising Fast had suffered interference on the straight and he was jostled. The horse who had caused the interference was able to break free on the straight with a clear run for home. Rising Fast managed to get himself clear also but not soon enough to allow him time to catch up; the pair crossed the line half a length apart. Many watching felt that his jockey, Bill Williamson, was within his right to lodge a protest on Toporoa’s jockey, but he was told not to bother. His owner called it a “typical racing incident” and his trainer declared “he liked to win races on the track, not in the stewards room”.
The race stewards did find fault though and penalised the jockey of Toporoa with a two-month suspension. This makes us think they probably would have upheld a protest had it been lodged. If he had won, Rising Fast would be the only horse to have won the Cups Double twice. But it was not to be. Rising Fast did win a second Fisher Plate four days later.
Rising Fast entered twelve races over the Autumn and Spring of 1956, winning three: The C F Orr Stakes at Moonee Valley, the Blamey Stakes at Flemington and the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield. He did not enter the Caulfield Cup but finished second in this third run of the W S Cox Plate. He entered the Melbourne Cup for a third time in 1956 and this time finished fifth. He raced twice more that November, finishing 4th then 5th and then never raced again.
On Saturday November 24, 1956, Moonee Valley Racing Club held a special farewell, halting races and betting to allow Rising Fast one last gallop down the straight. Afterward, he was adorned with a wreath of flowers while the band played “The Maori Farewell”, his trainer Fred Hoysted and strapper, Fred’s son Bob shed a tear or two and the crowd cheered their idol.
Rising Fast sailed back home to New Zealand, with a crowd there to greet him as his ship docked. One lady threw confetti while another two tried to pluck hair from his tail and a crowd of roughly 100 cheered as he was lowered onto the wharf.
Rising Fast saw out his days on his owner’s farm near The Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. Nicknamed Joe, he spent the rest of his days giving rides to children and roaming free with the farms ducks, chickens and cats, whose company he’d always preferred to horses and humans. He died in 1978, aged 29.
At the completion of his 68 starts career, Rising Fast had won 24, finished second on 17 occasions, third on two occasions and ran unplaced in 25 races. Clearly a stayer rather than a sprinter, one can’t help but wonder what his record would have been had his connections tried him over longer distances earlier in his career. Nevertheless, his incredible achievements earned him induction into the Racing Halls of Fame in both Australia and New Zealand.
Hi-Jinx
Winner of the 1960 Centenary Melbourne Cup. Trained by Trevor Knowles. Ridden by Billy Smith.
Hi-Jinx was born in 1955 at Trelawny Stud, near Cambridge in New Zealand. Her sire was an Irish chestnut who never won a race but successfully serviced many mares in New Zealand, producing 15 Stakes winners in eight years then moving his stud services to Japan and siring 16 foals there. Hi-Jinx’s mother was a Great Northern Oaks winner, the New Zealand mare Lady’s Bridge. In addition to Hi-Jinx, Trelawny Stud has links to several other Melbourne Cup winners: Macdougal, Foxami, Hiraji, Galilee and Polo Prince. Trelawny Stud also produced Tulloch, a crowd-favourite horse who was often compared to Phar Lap and whom Hi-Jinx would famously defeat in the Melbourne Cup.
To celebrate the Melbourne Cup Centenary, Flemington Racecourse received a major makeover. The prize pool was almost doubled as it increased by $20,000 from the year before and viewers watched the first direct telecast. At 50-1 odds, against a field of 31 other horses, Hi-Jinx produced a close Melbourne Cup finish, winning by a mere half neck. Script-writers couldn’t have written a more perfect finish to the 100th running of the Melbourne Cup as second and third place were close also, separated by only a head; and another all-New Zealand finish.
The Melbourne Cup’s first 100,000-plus crowd were so shocked to see the 3-1 favourite, Tulloch, finish in seventh place, that they sadly forgot to applaud the new champion as she made her way into the Winner’s Circle. To this day, Hi-Jinx is considered one of the biggest upset winners of the Melbourne Cup and the receiver of its quietest ever reception.
Her jockey for the Melbourne Cup was the Ballarat-born W.A. (Billy) “The Cups Specialist” Smith but she wasn’t his first choice of Melbourne Cup mount. During his career he rode more than 1700 winners around the World.
Hi-Jinx was undistinguished in New Zealand before her arrival in Australia. With the exception of her Melbourne Cup win, her career was unremarkable in Australia also. She ran unplaced in the 1960 Caulfield Cup but did finish 2nd in the Moonee Valley Cup the same year. For a total of 26 starts, she won 7, placed second in 4 races and ran third on 3 occasions, with 12 races unplaced.
After her retirement from racing she was turned out for breeding, producing only one foal of note, a filly named Centinx.
Unfortunately, not a lot more is known about the bay mare who won the Centennial Melbourne Cup.
Even Stevens
Winner of the 1962 Melbourne Cup. Trained by Archie MacGregor. Ridden by Les Coles.
Even Stevens was a Chestnut stallion from New Zealand. He was foaled in 1957 by New Zealand mare Amaroo and sired by Fairs Fair from Great Britain.
Even Stevens became the fifth horse to win the Cups Double in 1962. He also won the Werribee Gold Cup in the same year. His entire racing career is not well documented with his exact number of starts unrecorded; but he is known to have won at least 8 races including the ARC Queens' Plate, the Avondale Cup (in New Zealand), VATC Moora Welter Handicap at Caulfield (setting a track record time), the CB Fisher Plate and the Hawke's Bay Guineas. He finished second on two occasions and once in third place.
He comfortably won his Melbourne Cup by 4 lengths, starting as 3-1 favourite and carrying 8 stone 5 pound which was up 10 pounds from the weight he’d carried in the Caulfield Cup. He also set new records for bets wagered during the Spring Racing Carnival.
Even Stevens was the first horse to travel from New Zealand to Australia by airplane rather than sail across the Tasman Sea. His strapper was a 21-year-old lass named Judy Wilkinson, from Kerang in Victoria (who went on to register as a trainer). On Tuesday, 6 November 1962, Miss Wilkinson became the first female strapper to lead the Melbourne Cup winner into the Winners Circle. It was also the first year we saw the Fashions on the Field at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
On 8 January 1963, it was announced that Even Stevens would be leased to The Queen Mother and would travel to Europe to race for her for two years and would then be retired to stud. Three weeks later, on January 30th 1963, Even Stevens suffered an accident in a training gallop which resulted in a shattered seisamoid bone in one of his front legs. Instead of setting sail for Europe he was retired to stud early.
The stallion saw out the remainder of his years at Newstead Stud near Hamilton, New Zealand and was the leading New Zealand-bred Sire in the 1971-72 season. Derby winner Master John along with Evenstead, El Stavros and On Parr were some of his more notable offspring.
Even Stevens died on Christmas Day, 1975 aged 18. According to the stud-master at Newstead Stud, Mr Don Machinnon, Even Stevens had died of old age.
Galilee
Winner of the 1966 Melbourne Cup. Trained by Bart Cummings. Ridden by Johnny Miller.
Galilee was bred at Trelawny Stud near Cambridge, New Zealand (see also Hi-Jinx above). He was foaled in 1963 by the New Zealand mare Galston and Sired by Alcimedes. Alcimedes was born in Great Britain and imported as a stud to New Zealand, he also sired the 1971 MC winner, Silver Knight.
Far from looking like the perfect horse, Galilee was pigeon-toed and tended to throw his foreleg out to the side as he walked which earned him the nickname ‘Charlie Chaplin’. This was a trait that meant many trainers overlooked him at the yearling sales, but not Bart Cummings who purchased the well-bred colt for the fair price of 3500 guineas. Tommy Smith mocked Cummings when the hammer came down, claiming “You bought a cripple!” When Cummings saw Tommy Smith in the mounting yard after Galilee had won the 1967 Sydney Cup by six lengths, he couldn’t resist the urge to taunt his competitor. Using his best mockery of Smith’s squeaky voice, he exclaimed “The cripple’s done pretty good Tommy!”.
Galilee raced well in South Australia, winning at least 6 races there before travelling East for the Spring Racing Carnival. One of his wins in Adelaide was the Birthday Cup at Morphettville in 1966, his fourth straight win in Adelaide, in which he had the honour of being presented in the Winners Circle by The Queen Mother.
In Victoria, Galilee comfortably won the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield, coming from the back of the field with a furlong and a half to go and winning in fast time. Despite this win, he wasn’t the favourite for the Caulfield Cup, that honour lay with Tobin Bronze. Prior to his run in the Caulfield Cup, some uneducated reporters mistook Galilees odd gait for lameness. The rumour spread to the bookmakers who pushed out his odds to 14-1. As was his normal practice, Galilee spent the better portion of the Caulfield Cup at the rear of the field. With a furlong and a half (300 metres) to go Tobin Bronze was in the lead and Galilee was tenth. Three quarters of a furlong to go and Tobin Bronze had run out of steam, he finished unplaced in sixth. Meanwhile, Galilee had stormed down the outside, stretched his legs and won easily by a length and a half.
The pair battled once more before the Melbourne Cup, this time in the Mackinnon Stakes on Derby Day. Tobin Bronze was victorious in this race and in third place, Galilee’s jockey Johnny Miller, was reprimanded for not using enough vigour with the gelding.
In the Melbourne Cup a few days later, Galilee faced Tobin Bronze once again as well as his stablemate and winner of the previous Melbourne Cup, Light Fingers. Galilee started 11-2 favourite, and carried 8 stone 13 pounds. Once again, Galilee and Miller warmed up at the back of the field but had moved up to seventh place by the final turn with Light Fingers, sitting just behind the leaders. Once on the straight, the tiny mare picked up her pace and took the lead, pleasing the crowd who now thought she was about to win her second Melbourne Cup. The roaring crowd wasn’t given long with the lovely notion. Galilee, gliding as though this were just another training session, flew past his stablemate and won comfortably by two lengths that could’ve been more if he’d been pushed by Miller. Miller chose instead to throw a cheeky grin at Roy Higgins and Light Fingers as they passed. They had just produced one of the most comfortable Melbourne Cup wins ever witnessed.
Galilee was now the sixth horse to win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups Double. Later that season, the Autumn of 1967, he also won the Sydney Cup, making Galilee the only horse to win all three races in the same racing season. He won the Sydney Cup by an easy 6 lengths which is still considered one of the best performances by an Australian Racehorse.
Injury forced him into retirement in 1969. His racing career ended after 36 starts, half of which he won in addition to finishing second on 6 occasions and third on 4; finishing unplaced in 8 races. Despite being a Gelding, he was retired to his owner’s farm at Beaufields Stud in Gawler, South Australia. He died in 1989 at age of 26 and was buried at Gawler racetrack where the 1977 Melbourne Cup winner, Gold and Black, is also buried.
Rain Lover
Winner of back-to-back Melbourne Cups in 1968 and 1969. Trained by Mick Robins and ridden by Jim Johnson on both occasions.
Rain Lover was bred by his owner, Clifford A. Reid, in South Australia and was born in 1964. His Sire was an imported British stallion called Latin Lover and his dam was the Australian mare Rain Spot. His grand-sire was the unbeaten Ribot from Great Britain.
Rain Lover was the first horse in more than 100 years to win back-to-back Melbourne Cups, the first to achieve the feat was Archer in 1862.
Rain Lovers 1968 win also equalled Archers record 8-length win. Rain Lover was near the front the whole way, never dipping further back than 5th. He started his move forward with three furlongs to go and broke clear on the final bend. By the final furlong post he was already 6 lengths clear and widening the gap with every stride. Had he not eased up just before the finish line he probably would have beaten Archers 8-length victory record. In this race, Rain Lover also set a new race time record of 3 minutes and 19.1 seconds, shaving .4 seconds of the previous record set by Comic Court 19 years earlier. Total bets placed on this Melbourne Cup averaged $1 per head of population which in 1968 was around 12 million people.
Rain Lover’s second win was harder fought, winning only by a head, finishing two and a half seconds slower than the year earlier. Many folks feel that had the Favourite, Big Philou, not been scratched* at the 11th hour, Rain Lover might not have won in 1969. We will never know that for sure, but the pair did meet twice the following March, both races over 12 furlongs. The first race was the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington on March 14, 1970 – Big Philou defeated Rain Lover by half a head. Two weeks later on March 28, Rain Lover defeated Big Philou by 3 lengths in the Autumn Stakes at Randwick. The question forever remains… who would have won over the Melbourne Cup distance of 16 furlongs.
Rain Lover’s regular jockey was Jim Johnston who had previously won the Melbourne Cup in 1963 on Gatum Gatum. Johnsons two wins on Rain Lover gave him three Melbourne Cup trophies in total. Over his career he rode 2158 winners, not just in Australia but in Singapore also. Johnson was inducted to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in August 2009.
His trainer, Mick Robins, had been a miner in Mick’s home town of Broken Hill. After leaving the mines, he moved to South Australia and became a foreman for Adelaide-based trainer Grahame Heagney. Mick took over the stable of 14 horses when Heagney went to America with the horse Tobin Bronze. There are many claims that Robins had only been licenced for three months when he won a Melbourne; which is only partially true. He took out a Victorian licence in August 1968 so that he could bring Rain Lover to the Spring Racing Carnival here, but he had in fact held a licence in other states since 1950. Experienced or not, he was so excited by his first Melbourne Cup win that he tripped and fell down the stairs in his haste to get from the trainers stand to the winner’s circle. The boy from Broken Hill has a grandstand there named after him. These days, Robins is a mentor with Tony Noonan Racing based at Mornington, Victoria. He celebrated his 90th birthday in July this year.
In 1969, Rain Lover was named Australian Horse of the Year. His career spanned 46 races in which he finished in first place 17 times, 10 times in second place, 11 times in third and unplaced in 8 races.
The Bay stallion was retired to stud in 1970. He died in 1989 and is believed to be buried at Tarwyn Park in Bylong, New South Wales.
* Bart Cummings’ Big Philou was scratched 39 minutes prior to the start of the 1969 Melbourne Cup due to severe diarrhea. His sudden illness was found to be caused by a heavy dose of a laxative called Danthron. The doping scandal was never fully solved, despite the horses owner offering reward money to whoever could shed light. On his deathbed, a jockey named Les Lewis confessed to doping Big Philou and another horse Tail in the early hours of Melbourne Cup Day 1969. He also confessed to have been paid $10,000 to commit the offence, but would not admit who had paid him to do it.