The Caulfield Cup is a

Melbourne Racing Club The Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) is one of three metropolitan horse racing clubs in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It began life as the Victoria Amateur Turf Club in 1875, with E. C. Moore as the club's first Secretary. The ...

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (motorsport), a regulation set of the FIA for series-production touring cars used in motorsport. * Group One Thoroughbred horse races, the leading e ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

held under handicap conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 metres at the

Caulfield Racecourse Caulfield Racecourse is one of Melbourne, Australia's best-known horse-racing tracks. Commonly known as "The Heath" by local racegoers, It is home to the Melbourne Racing Club. Horse-racing started there in 1859 on a bush track where the Melbo ...

, Melbourne,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in mid October. The prize money is A$5,000,000.

History

The race has become one of

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

richest

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

s. The race is held annually on the third Saturday in October, the third day and final day of the Caulfield Carnival. Performances in the Caulfield Cup are one of the possible qualification methods for a run in the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

which is held 17 days later. ROGILLA 1932 VATC CAULFIELD CUP GEORGE ROBINSON

Poseidon 1906 VRC Melbourne Cup Owner Sir Hugh Denison Randwick Trainer Isaac Earnshaw

Amounis 1930 VATC Futurity Stakes Jockey Harold Jones Trainer Frank McGrath

Denis Boy 1931 VATC Caulfield Cup Jockey Andy Knox Trainer Frank McGrath

Uncle Sam 1914 VATC Caulfield Cup Jockey J E Ettershank Trainer M P Whitty

Lavendo 1915 VATC Caulfield Cup Jockey Frank Dempsey Trainer Lou Robertson

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the race was run at

Flemington Racecourse Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The race ...

and in 1943 the race was run in divisions.

Race qualification

The field is limited to 18 starters with four emergency entries which is decided by a ballot system. The prize money, wins and placings in lead up races are among the major factors that determine the eligibility of a horse. Automatic entry is awarded to winners of the Toorak Handicap,

Herbert Power Stakes The Herbert Power Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under quality handicap conditions, for horses aged three years old and older, over a distance of 2400 metres. It is held at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbo ...

and the Mornington Cup.

Distance

*1879–1971 - 1 miles (~2400 metres) *1972 onwards - 2400 metres

Grade

*1879–1978 - Principal Race *1979 onwards - Group 1

Dual winners

The following thoroughbreds have won two Caulfield Cups. * Paris (1892, 1894), Hymettus (1898, 1901),

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

(1906–07), Uncle Sam (1912, 1914), Whittier (1922, 1925),

Rising Fast Rising Fast (1949 - 1978) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to complete the Spring Grand Slam, winning the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Cox Plate in 1954. He also won the 1955 Caulfield Cup and c ...

(1954-1955) and

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1977, 1980).

Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double wins

The following thoroughbreds have won the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double in the same year. *

(1906), The Trump (1937), Rivette (1939),

(1954),

Even Stevens ''Even Stevens'' is an American comedy television series produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2000, to June 2, 2003, airing a total of 65 episodes spanning three seasons. It follows ...

(1962),

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

(1966), Gurner's Lane (1982), Let’s Elope (1991), Doriemus (1995),

Might and Power Might and Power (6 October 1993 – 11 April 2020) was a New Zealand bred, Australian owned and trained Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year, Australian Horse of the Year in 1998 and 1999. As a four-yea ...

(1997),

Ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 * Ethereal (musician), American rapper and record producer * Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music * W ...

(2001) and Without A Fight (2023).

Caulfield Cup-Cox Plate double wins

The following thoroughbreds have won the Caulfield Cup-Cox Plate double in the same year. * Tranquil Star (1906),

(1954),

Tobin Bronze Tobin Bronze (1962–1994) was an Australian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who competed with great success during the 1960s. A chestnut son of Arctic Explorer from the Masthead mare Amarco, he was a crowd favourite and won 24 of his 44 A ...

(1967) and

Northerly Northerly (17 October 1996 – 9 May 2012) was an Australian racehorse who is considered arguably Australia's best middle distance Thoroughbred horse of the early 2000s. Northerly, trained by Western Australian harness racing legend Fred Kersle ...

(2002).

Caulfield Cup-Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup triple wins

The following thoroughbreds have won the Caulfield Cup-Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup triple in the same year. *

(1954).

Notable runnings

* Australian

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Clem Hill Clement Hill (18 March 18775 September 1945) was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five. A prolific run ...

was the

handicapper Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which t ...

for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club (VATC) and responsible for setting the weights for the Caulfield Cup from 1937 to 1943. * Jockey

Scobie Breasley Arthur Edward "Scobie" Breasley (7 May 1914 – 21 December 2006) was an Australian jockey. He won the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne five times: 1942-45 consecutively on Tranquil Star, Skipton, Counsel and St Fairy; then on Peshawar in 1952. ...

rode the winner of four consecutive Caulfield Cups from 1942 to 1945. This included a division of the 1943 race, which was run in two divisions. He also holds the record for most wins by a jockey of the race - five wins. * Trainer

Bart Cummings James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he wo ...

holds the record for training Caulfield Cup winners with seven -

, Big Philou, Leilani,

(twice), Let's Elope and Viewed. * 2014 Caulfield Cup winner

Admire Rakti Admire Rakti (20 February 2008 – 4 November 2014) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Diamond Stakes in Japan and the Caulfield Cup in Australia. He died in his stall after competing in the 154th Melbourne Cup on 4 November ...

died after his run in the Melbourne Cup from natural causes. * Horses trained outside Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

have been participating in the race since 1998. Six have won the race. They are Taufan's Melody (1998) for British trainer Lady Herries, All the Good (2008) and Best Solution (2018) for

Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor (; born 16 November 1968 in Dubai) is a horse racing horse trainer, trainer in Great Britain. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training licence in 1995 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Mohammed bin Ra ...

of the Godolphin stables, Dunaden (2012) for French trainer Mikel Delzangles, Admire Rakti (2014) for Japanese trainer Tomoyuki Umeda and Mer De Glace (2019) for Japanese trainer Hisashi Shimizu. * The worst race fall in Australian history occurred at the 1885 Caulfield Cup when 15 of the 44 horses competing fell as they turned onto the straight, resulting in the death of 25-year-old jockey Donald Nicolson. * In 2007, Maldivian and Eskimo Queen were late scratchings. Maldivian, shortest price favourite for 41 years, misbehaved and injured himself in the starting stalls, frightening second priced favourite Eskimo Queen who for a time was trapped beneath the stalls. The race started almost nine minutes late.

1924 and 1934 racebooks

File:1924 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P1.jpg, 1924 VATC Caulfield Cup racebook front cover File:1924 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P2.jpg, 1924 VATC Caulfield Cup showing raceday officials File:1924 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P3.jpg, 1924 VATC Caulfield Cup starters and results showing the winner, Purser File:1924 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P4.jpg, 1924 VATC Caulfield Cup starters and results File:1924 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P5.jpg, Back cover showing entrance gate and railway charges File: 1934 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P1.jpg, 1934 VATC Caulfield Cup racebook front cover File: 1934 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P3.jpg, 1934 VATC Caulfield Cup starters and results showing the winner, Journal File: 1934 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P4.jpg, 1934 VATC Caulfield Cup starters and results

1950 racebook

File:1950 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P1.jpg, 1950 VATC Caulfield Cup racebook front cover File:1950 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P2.jpg, 1950 VATC Caulfield Cup showing raceday officials File:1950 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P3.jpg, 1950 VATC Caulfield Cup showing starters & results File:1950 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P4.jpg, 1950 VATC Caulfield Cup showing the winner, Grey Boots File:1950 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P5.jpg, 1950 VATC Caulfield Cup showing starters & results File:1950 VATC Caulfield Cup Racebook P6.jpg, Back cover showing railway arrangements and charges at the entrance gates Tranquil Star 1946 Olympic Park Melbourne Farewell Jockey Scobie Breasley Trainer Ron Cameron

Tranquil Star 1946 Olympic Park Melbourne Farewell Jockey Scobie Breasley Trainer Ron Cameron

Winners since 1988

Earlier winners

*1987 – Lord Reims *1986 – Mr. Lomondy *1985 – Tristarc *1984 – Affinity *1983 – Hayai *1982 – Gurner's Lane *1981 – Silver Bounty *1980 –

*1979 – Mighty Kingdom *1978 – Taksan *1977 –

*1976 – How Now *1975 – Analight *1974 – Leilani *1973 – Swell Time *1972 – Sobar *1971 – Gay Icarus *1970 – Beer Street *1969 – ¶ Big Philou *1968 – Bunratty Castle *1967 –

*1966 –

*1965 – Bore Head *1964 – Yangtze *1963 – Sometime *1962 –

*1961 – Summer Fair *1960 – Ilumquh *1959 – Regal Wench *1958 – Sir Blink *1957 – Tulloch *1956 –

Redcraze Redcraze (born 1950) was a champion New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse who raced both in Australia and New Zealand, winning major races in both countries. A chestnut son of the Hyperion stallion Red Mars from the mare Myarion he is considered ...

*1955 –

*1954 –

*1953 – My Hero *1952 – Peshawar *1951 – Basha Felika *1950 – Grey Boots *1949 – Lincoln *1948 – Red Fury *1947 – Columnist *1946 – Royal Gem *1945 – St. Fairy *1944 – Counsel *1943 – † Saint Warden / Skipton *1942 – Tranquil Star *1941 – Velocity *1940 – Beaulivre *1939 – Rivette *1938 – Buzalong *1937 – The Trump *1936 – Northwind *1935 – Palfresco *1934 – Journal *1933 – Gaine Carrington *1932 – Rogilla *1931 – Denis Boy *1930 – Amounis *1929 – High Syce *1928 – Maple *1927 – Textile *1926 –

Manfred ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of Gothic fiction. Byr ...

*1925 – Whittier *1924 – Purser *1923 – Wynette *1922 – Whittier *1921 –

Violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

*1920 –

Eurythmic Eurythmic (1916–1925) was a versatile Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who had the ability to produce a brilliant finishing run in staying races and he also won important sprint races, too. At four he won 12 of his 13 starts including the ...

*1919 – Lucknow *1918 – King Offa *1917 – Bronzetti *1916 – Shepherd King *1915 – Lavendo *1914 – Uncle Sam *1913 – Aurifer *1912 – Uncle Sam *1911 – Lady Medallist *1910 – Flavinius *1909 – ‡ Blue Book / Aborigine *1908 – Maranui *1907 –

*1906 –

*1905 – Marvel Loch *1904 – Murmur *1903 – Sweet Nell *1902 – Lieutenant Bill *1901 – Hymettus *1900 – Ingliston *1899 – Dewey *1898 – Hymettus *1897 – Amberite *1896 – Cremorne *1895 – Waterfall *1894 – Paris *1893 – ¶ Sainfoin *1892 – Paris *1891 – G'naroo *1890 – Vengeance *1889 – Boz *1888 – Chicago *1887 – Oakleigh *1886 – Ben Bolt *1885 – Grace Darling *1884 – Blink Bonny *1883 – Calma *1882 – Little Jack *1881 – Master Avenel *1881 – Blue Ribbon *1880 – Tom Kirk *1879 – Newminster Key:
† Run in divisions
¶ Won by Protest
‡ Dead heat

Attendance

*2024 – 25,676 *2023 – 25,121 *2022 – 24,289 *2021 – 0 (no public attendance due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions) *2020 – 0 (no public attendance due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions) *2019 – 28,000 *2018 – 30,000 *2017 – 30,000 *2015 – 30,000 *2014 – 32,000 *2013 – 33,056 *2012 – 35,500 *2011 – 30,097 *2010 – 23,697 *2009 – 43,210 *2008 – 51,328 *2007 – 48,529 *2006 – 47,551 *2005 – 52,000 *2004 – 51,015 *2003 – 46,873

Sponsorship

In March 2015, BMW Australia and the Melbourne Racing Club announced a reunion in partnership, effective as of August 1, 2015 after the eight-year partnership ended in 2014.

External links

Caulfield Cup placegetters since 1949

References

{{Reflist, 2 Open middle distance horse races Group 1 stakes races in Australia Caulfield Racecourse Caulfield Cup winners Recurring sporting events established in 1879 Sports competitions in Melbourne