Melbourne Cup Fields History
- Melbourne Cup Fields History 2019
- Melbourne Cup Fields History 2020
- Melbourne Cup Fields History Yahoo
- 2017 Melbourne Cup Field
- Melbourne Cup Field 2020
Some interesting STATISTICS about the History of the MELBOURNE CUP:. First run in 1861 under the banner of the Victorian Turf Club and won by the Etienne de Mestre-trained Archer who beat the favourite Mormon by six lengths. The prize was 1420 pounds and the trophy a gold watch. Detail: The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day c1889 by Carl Kahler, courtesy National Library of Australia. The first Melbourne Cup was run at Flemington Racecourse in 1861 and right from the start the complete costume women wore became a subject of interest for journalists and the public alike. The 2015 Emirates Melbourne Cup was the 155th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over 3,200 metres (1.988 mi), was held on 3 November 2015 at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse.The date is a public holiday in the state of Victoria.The final field for the race was declared on 31 October. The total prize money for the race was A$6.2. In 1962, the Victoria Racing Club founded Fashions on the Field at Flemington and over the decades it has become an iconic fixture of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. A continuing partnership with Myer and the evolution of the competition has established Myer Fashions on the Field as Australia’s largest and most prestigious outdoor fashion event.
Costume encompasses all that we wear, including objects for personal adornment such as jewellery, hats, gloves, shoes, stockings and other accessories.
All the various aspects of costume we wear individually and collectively have an interesting history. Without a doubt their evolving style reflects our personalities, our social growth and cultural development.
Over the years since the Melbourne Cup was first founded in 1861, it has gradually become the iconic horse race in Australia. It is the one that stops the Australian nation well and truly in its tracks.
Today after 50 years since a competition to find the best dressed woman on race day emerged, Fashions on the Field have become an important aspect of national Spring Racing Carnivals in Australia. They are helping to attract major sponsors and to provide jobs for hundreds and thousands of people.
In Melbourne where I live and where the annual horse race the Melbourne Cup is run, the two major department stores David Jones and Myer deck themselves out in all sorts of costume, including some exciting and eccentric fashionable head attire for women to consider wearing to the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
From fascinators to floral fantasies, whether black and white or the brightest of colours, the choice in both size and style is completely amazing. Fashion Elixir‘s Jo Bayley has covered that aspect of costume in her story ‘Win the Hat Race for the Melbourne Cup’
Detail: The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day c1889 by Carl Kahler, courtesy National Library of Australia
The first Melbourne Cup was run at Flemington Racecourse in 1861 and right from the start the complete costume women wore became a subject of interest for journalists and the public alike.
This didn’t abate over the century following, instead their curiousity only increased as changes in society happened and two World Wars came and went.
Described in The Bulletin as ‘a veritable page in the history of Australia’, today in our libraries there are countless photographs of a century or more of fashionable men and women over that time, strolling side by side and arm in arm, across lush green racecourse lawns where a profusion of flowers also abounded.
In 1861 a contemporary description in ‘The Age’ newspaper of the event noted; A carnival atmosphere prevailed with women in bonnets and full skirts, men in beaver hats and frock coats. Sideshow booths with roulette stands, fortune-tellers, performing monkeys, ‘giants’ and bearded ladies entertained the crowds, and publicans did a roaring trade. The event drew spectators from all parts: in the crowd there were men wearing cabbage-tree hats and sporting bushy beards; settlers in moleskins, or leggings and boots; and diggers from Ballarat who stood out in their red shirts.
Ever since the second half of the eighteenth century in Europe, England and America people who became a ‘society’ rather than a class celebrated their new found freedom, creativity and inventiveness by creating the most amazing costume.
Well dressed patrons simply did not ‘go out’ or attend racecourse whether they were at Royal Ascot in England or at the Kentucky Derby in America or the Melbourne Cup in Australia without having their arms, their legs and their heads covered, a trend that applied both to men and women for centuries.
By the Edwardian era at the beginning of the 20th century everywhere you went there were hat racks and cloak rooms in department stores, hotels, museums and restaurants so that you could check your coat, your umbrella and your hat with the attendants knowing full well how to look after a man’s fashionable fedora without denting it.
Between the wars the majority of women worldwide, except those in high society, discarded their bonnets, bobbed their hair, raised their hems from full length to mid-calf and set about trying to change societal rules about such things. World War II came along in 1939 and changed the game yet again.
After such a fierce and horrific conflict there was a return to old fashioned values taking place, which meant looking back to the Edwardian age before both world wars when elegant and refined fashion came out of Paris. Once again they donned their gloves, their hats and took their umbrellas, just in case of rain.
All these were subject to fashion. They ensured too that their hems remained firmly at mid-calf level.
During the 1950’s following World War II horse racing, which was already an important aspect of our lives had a huge revival. So did the wearing of complete outfits of costume all chosen to compliment each other, with matching ensembles, becoming the norm.
On the world stage French fashion Christian Dior launched his whole ‘new look’ that more or less cemented that basic ideal. However it did go further, as he created clean curvaceous shapes and ‘sexy’ silhouettes, using boning to boost the breasts, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats, all of which gave his models a wonderfully sculpted form.
Dior also ensured Paris became once again, a focus and centre for fashion.
After so many years on rationing and shelving their desire for fashion while their men were dying at the front, women were ready once again to ‘dress up’ again to please their man, to go about stylishly and win admiration and praise from their friends, while having a jolly good time.
It was all about dressing for a sense of occasion so that they could respect and celebrate the renewal of life.
Men got back into the act as well.
During the late forties and fifties scenes of men wearing bespoke crisply tailored pin stripe suits abounded, especially at the races where top hats became de rigeur as they had been before World War I.
Men wore their hats everywhere, they even became a subject for modern art. My father certainly never left the house without his firmly in place.
There were all sorts of hats for all sorts of occasions. Bowler hats were worn in London for years by men in certain ‘professions’.
During the next few years ‘field and fashion’ became popular language to describe successful horse racing events.
One of the leaders for the ‘fashions on the field’ was the new young English Queen Elizabeth II, who was also the Queen of Australia.
She was a passionate horse lover, a racehorse owner and the all-new ‘Commonwealth’ leader of style.
She wore mid calf length dresses, worn with pearls, hats and gloves, which all women wanting to be seen as integral to high society, adopted with great alacrity.
In the edition of every woman’s favourite magazine The Australian Women’s Weekly published on 13th November 1957, they used the headline ‘In the Fashion Field for Flemington’.
As part of a push to promote the Centenary Cup in 1960 fashion, flowers and favourites were promoted to ‘woo more women to the races’.
This was so successful in 1962 the Victoria Racing Club launched a ‘Fashions on the Field’ competition for the Spring Racing Carnival to find ‘the smartest dressed woman.
At first three categories were offered; outfits that cost 30 pounds or under, those 50 pounds and over, as well as the ‘most elegant hat’.
Hat and gloves and stockings were considered necessary attire and the winner Miss Margaret Wood of the Under 30 pounds category borrowed her hat and the money to purchase her outfit.
She won a new Ford Falcon Future motorcar and a Cyclax beauty case valued at fifty pounds.
Fashionable Flemington 1968, how about all those hats and gloves!
In 1963 Margaret Wood’s best friend a Sunday school teacher and stenographer Barbara Woods (yes that’s correct but no relation) also won, proving that you did not have to be a society matron to be a winner now.
It was in 1965 when English model Jean Shrimpton a special guest at the Carnival shocked the staid matrons in the Ladies stand, as well as the nation, with her casual take on race fashion.
Her mini skirt, which reality was only just above the knee, was indeed a revelation and heralded things to come. On her first day at the races she also came without a hat, scandalising everyone by leaving her head uncovered.
On her second day she sported what we would think today was a sedate double breasted suit topped by a much larger hat than most other women wore at the time, one that swept back and showed off her beautiful face.
But it still caused controversy, after all you could see her knees! Shocking!
Now o’er the seas, on moors and downs
Hooves pound in expectation,
Through early morning mists that veil
Their great determination.
The best will come to challenge
The antipodean horse
In the gruelling race of two miles -
On the famous Melbourne course*
As the event evolved over the next few decades it brought out both the best and the very worst in people and their idea of what fashion was.
Many hilarious and outrageous takes on fashion became integral to the event, capturing both the public and media’s interest.
It also provided plenty of extra promotional opportunities for the fashion pundits.
By the late 1970’s up and coming designers were heavily involved and during the 1980’s with economies booming all around the world, the fashion stakes increased dramatically.
In 1986 Vivienne McCredie, born and raised at Coogee Beach in Sydney, the suburb next to Royal Randwick where her family went often and enjoyed every aspect of horse racing, penned a poem entitled “The Race that Stops the Nation’.
Read out on the radio it gradually became embedded into popular culture.
The newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported in November 1987 the stock market may have crashed, but women were still sparing no expense to compete in the Fashions on the Field.
Fleur Olssen won the event in 1990 wearing a bright yellow dress and jacket. No one was more pleased than her mother, who had worn the same outfit to win in 1972.
In 2012 Fashions on the Field celebrated 50 years in Australia. Today it is a national event and is marketed around the world.
Throughout the year events are held across the country at race events to find finalists in the Women’s Racewear category interstate.
The winners are then all flown to Melbourne to compete in the major competition held on Crown Oaks Day, traditionally now Women’s Day at the races in Melbourne.
The local finalist is chosen from the three winners of the Fashions on the Field competitions held on Victoria Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day and Crown Oaks Day and this lady competes against all the other state winners.
The competition is fierce and colourful.
Not to leave the guys out of the loop prizes are also now given for Men’s Racewear at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
There is also an ‘invitation only’ Design Award, a separate Millinery Award and the popular ‘People’s Choice’ Award, which is voted for ‘Online’.
Marketing and promotion techniques have turned the popularity of the Victoria Racing Club’s annual horse-racing event it seems to good account.
Today in all States of Australia breakfasts, lunches and dinners held in the week prior to the cup ensures that many people enjoy the sense of occasion and dress for it as well.
The statistics about the Melbourne Cup and what it contributes to our nation and its economy monetarily are staggering.
On a Tuesday in November,
The first one to be sure,
As the winner flashes past the post,
You’ll hear the thousands roar.
For never has there been a race
To catch imagination
Than the race that’s run at Flemington
The race that stops the nation!*
Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle, 2013-2014
#Australian Dictionary of Biography
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Explore our interactive guide to the horses who chased Australian racing's greatest prize, and the finishing positions for the field in the 160th running of the Melbourne Cup.
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$10: FF. Anthony Van Dyck
5yo stallion (Ireland) Barrier 3 58.5kg J: Hugh Bowman T: Aidan O'Brien
Anthony Van Dyck is one of the best credentialled European horses to travel to Australia in recent times.
A winner of the English Derby last year, his connections decided to forgo some prestigious prizes during Europe's COVID-affected season to target our greatest race.
He looked to have acclimatised well and beat all bar Verry Elleegant in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) a fortnight ago, surging home from the tail of the field.
However, Anthony Van Dyck is unproven at the 3,200-metre distance and must carry a weight not done successfully since Think Big went back to back in 1975.
$51: 22nd. Avilius
7yo gelding (Great Britain) Barrier 10 57kg J: John Allen T: James Cummings
Avilius makes his second Cup appearance after being knocked out of the race in 2018 (22nd).
Since then he has developed into one of the country's better performed horses at the elite level, although he has not been in the winner's stall for more than a year.
Yet, Avilius showed he was worthy after another Cup tilt when being unlucky not to have finished closer than sixth in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) a fortnight ago — a rain-affected track on Tuesday would be to his advantage.
Victory would give trainer James Cummings, the grandson of Cups king Bart Cummings, his first win in the great race.
$41: 18th. Vow And Declare
5yo gelding (Australia) Barrier 4 57kg J: Jamie Mott T: Danny O'Brien
Vow And Declare is aiming to become only the sixth horse to win multiple Melbourne Cups, but he doesn't appear to be in the same bullish form as he was a year ago.
On top of that, he has to carry five kilograms more than he did in 2019 when he defied the challenge of Master Of Reality and Prince of Arran in a tight finish.
The five-year-old has only placed once in six subsequent starts and jockey Craig Williams has opted to ride Surprise Baby instead.
Connections are hoping Vow And Declare can turn his form around with more aggressive tactics on Tuesday and make the race a genuine staying contest.
$21: 15th. Master Of Reality
6yo gelding (Ireland) Barrier 11 56kg J: Ben Melham T: Joseph O'Brien
Master Of Reality could arguably have won last year's Cup had he run straight and not caused interference in the closing stages, resulting in him being relegated from second to fourth.
Melbourne Cup Fields History 2019
He meets Vow And Declare 5kg better at the weights this year and comes here on the back of some fair form in Europe, including one win, although his colours were lowered twice by stablemate Twilight Payment.
Melbourne Cup Fields History 2020
But expect Master Of Reality to be primed to make amends for last year and give owner Lloyd Williams a seventh Cup success.
His young trainer Joseph O'Brien has already won the Cup (Rekindling 2017), ironically at the expense of his jockey on Tuesday, Ben Melham, who rode Johannes Vermeer into second place that day.
$12: 6th. Sir Dragonet
5yo stallion (Ireland) Barrier 14 55.5kg J: Glen Boss T: Ciaron Maher & David Eustace
Sir Dragonet was a much-hyped horse in Europe last year and started favourite in some major races — including the English Derby at his third career start — but often seemed to find one better.
Bought by Australian interests earlier this year, this well-bred stallion surged into Cup contention with an arrogant victory in the Cox Plate (2,040m) just over a week ago.
Having shed his non-winner tag, Sir Dragonet is among the favourites for Tuesday's race even though he is untested over the 3,200-metre distance.
Glen Boss, a three-time Cup hero aboard Makybe Diva, retains the ride and will be hoping his horse can show the same burst of speed he showed at his Australian debut.
$26: 1st. Twilight Payment
8yo gelding (Ireland) Barrier 12 55.5kg J: Jye McNeil T: Joseph O'Brien
Owned by six-time winner Lloyd Williams, Twilight Payment has a decent overall record, winning seven and placing 16 times from 30 starts — many of which came in smallish fields in his native Ireland.
This will be the horse's second visit to Australia after finishing 11th in last year's Melbourne Cup at long odds behind Vow And Declare.
Twilight Payment's five runs this year have resulted in two victories, including one over stablemate Master Of Reality over 2,800 metres in Ireland in July.
His trainer, Joseph O'Brien, unlike his famous father Aidan, has already won a Melbourne Cup with Rekindling (2017).
$11: 7th. Verry Elleegant
5yo mare (New Zealand) Barrier 15 55.5kg J: Mark Zahra T: Chris Waller
The modestly bred Verry Elleegant is considered one of the best horses in the country, and certainly one of the most adept on rain-affected tracks.
A fortnight ago she added to her impressive record with a dogged win in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m), defying the likes of Anthony Van Dyck and Prince Of Arran.
But despite her class, the weight of history is literally against her. Only one mare has carried more weight to victory in this race — Makybe Diva carried 58kg to win her third Cup in 2005.
The data also says that 30 mares have contested the Cup since 2005 and none have finished in the top three.
$71: 19th. Mustajeer
8yo gelding (Great Britain) Barrier 2 55kg J: Michael Rodd T: Kris Lees
Bought by Australian interests, this former European galloper was well-fancied when he came out for last year's Caulfield Cup (sixth) and Melbourne Cup (23rd).
Mustajeer remained in Australia under the care of Newcastle trainer Kris Lees, with his lone victory Down Under coming back in February over 1,900 metres in Sydney.
The eight-year-old started at 100-1 in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) a fortnight ago and finished eighth, beaten four lengths behind Verry Elleegant.
He hit the line fairly that day despite not having the clearest of runs, however Mustajeer will likely need some rain on the track to have a chance of figuring in the placings.
$41: 20th. Stratum Albion
8yo gelding (Great Britain) Barrier 9 55kg J: Jordan Childs T: Willie Mullins
One of five eight-year-olds in the race, this lightly raced gelding will be out to etch his own piece of history; only two eight-year-olds have won the Cup — the most recent was in 1938.
Legendary Irish trainer Willie Mullins puts the polish on Stratum Albion, who has run three times this year, two of those over hurdles before finishing in front of Dashing Willoughby in August.
It's not the typical preparation for a Melbourne Cup, but no-one can question the judgment of Mullins, who came close to winning the Cup in 2015 when second with Max Dynamite.
Stratum Albion has been put on a similar training regime, with the stable confident of a forward showing — a rain-affected track will also help his chances.
$61: 21st. Dashing Willoughby
5yo gelding (Great Britain) Barrier 19 54.5kg J: Michael Walker T: Andrew Balding
Another of the international entrants, Dashing Willoughby disappointed at his Australian debut, weakening noticeably to finish last in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) behind Verry Elleegant.
Vets could find nothing wrong with the English-trained runner and he goes into the Cup with jockey Michael Walker believing he can turn things around.
Dashing Willoughby had won two of his three starts in Europe this year, including one in which he lowered the colours of 2018 Cup winner Cross Counter over 2,400 metres in July.
Nevertheless, he'll have to improve drastically to figure prominently on Tuesday, although he does have a victory to his name over the 3,200-metre distance.
$17: 9th. Finche
7yo gelding (Great Britain) Barrier 6 54.5kg J: James McDonald T: Chris Waller
Finche has already contested two Melbourne Cups, finishing fourth in 2018 and seventh last year behind Vow And Declare.
He profiles similarly this year after running a brave fifth to stablemate Verry Elleegant in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) a fortnight ago.
The former French-trainer galloper is one of a two-pronged attack on the big race for a red-hot Chris Waller stable searching for its first Melbourne Cup.
So too is jockey James McDonald, who lost the ride on Verry Elleegant earlier this spring due to COVID travel restrictions, but Finche is a more than capable replacement.
$10: 3rd. Prince Of Arran
8yo gelding (Great Britain) Barrier 1 54.5kg J: Jamie Kah T: Charlie Fellowes
Prince Of Arran is now a three-time visitor to Australia, where he has developed a following among racing fans because of his consistency and determination.
The connections of this globetrotting galloper are hoping that he can go even better than his third in 2018 and second (when elevated on protest) a year ago.
He showed he'll be a leading contender again by posting best-of-race closing figures to finish fourth in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) behind Verry Elleegant and Anthony Van Dyck.
It will be a first Melbourne Cup ride for the in-form Jamie Kah, who landed a winner on Derby Day to follow the four she rode on Cox Plate day.
$8: 13th. Surprise Baby
6yo gelding (New Zealand) Barrier 7 54.5kg J: Craig Williams T: Paul Preusker
Surprise Baby announced himself as a staying talent by running away with last year's Adelaide Cup at only his sixth start.
Fast-forward eight months and he was arguably the best run of the race in last year's Melbourne Cup, storming home for fifth after giving away too much start to the leaders.
A mission of redemption has been the sole focus of trainer Paul Preusker, who has given Surprise Baby a near-identical preparation heading into Tuesday.
The horse will be partnered by last year's winning jockey, Craig Williams, who has taken to posting Surprise Baby's impressive track gallops on social media.
Scratched: 14. King Of Leogrance
UPDATE: This horse has been scratched
6yo gelding (France) Barrier 18 53.5kg J: Damian Lane T: Danny O'Brien
Six-time Cup-winning owner Lloyd Williams brought this lightly raced galloper from Europe last year and placed him in the care of Danny O'Brien.
The Flemington-based trainer, who won the Cup last year with Vow And Declare, has maintained a European-style training regime, needing little racing to bring him to peak fitness.
King Of Leogrance was a dominant winner of the Adelaide Cup in March, before going down to Oceanex in the win-and-you're-in (the Cup) Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2,800m) in May.
His condition appeared to give out in the closing stages when third to Steel Prince in the Geelong Cup (2,400m) a fortnight ago so expect him to be primed now for his grand final.
$13: 8th. Russian Camelot
4yo stallion (Ireland) Barrier 16 53.5kg J: Damien Oliver T: Danny O'Brien
Russian Camelot has been a leading fancy for the Cup for some time, although the shine has come off his reputation to a minor degree following defeats in the Caulfield Stakes (2,000m) and Cox Plate (2,040m).
The boom has been big on this Northern Hemisphere-bred four-year-old since his eye-catching win in the South Australia Derby (2,500m) in May.
His fans are hoping that a step up to 3,200 metres on Tuesday and riding him 'cold' will deliver a return to the winner's stall.
Russian Camelot is considered the leading hope for trainer Danny O'Brien, who also saddles last year's winner Vow And Declare and 2019 Victoria Oaks winner Miami Bound.
$41: 16th. Steel Prince
7yo gelding (Ireland) Barrier 21 53.5kg J: William Pike T: Anthony & Sam Freedman
Steel Prince is having a second crack at the Cup after finishing ninth last year, beaten only two lengths by Vow And Declare.
After a good break away from the track, Anthony and Sam Freeman have this former European going well and was brave when third behind Persan in the Bart Cummings Quality (2,500m).
He made amends a fortnight ago with victory in the Geelong Cup (2,400m), earning him a one-kilogram penalty that was enough to propel him into the 24-horse field.
His trainers are masters at peaking his horses for their target race and they'll be hoping the 'wizard of the west', William Pike, can have some luck in his first Cup ride.
$31: 4th. The Chosen One
5yo stallion (New Zealand) Barrier 5 53.5kg J: Daniel Stackhouse T: Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman
The Chosen One has had mixed results in his two starts at 3,200 metres — 17th in the Melbourne Cup last year and second in the Sydney Cup behind Etah James in April.
He goes into Tuesday's race after running boldly at a big price to claim third in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) behind Verry Elleegant and Anthony Van Dyck.
Expect The Chosen One to be thereabouts again on Tuesday, although he may just be one or two lengths shy of some of these over the 3,200 metres.
But he does come from a stable with an enviable record in staying races, with few better training operations in New Zealand than the team of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman.
$26: 10th. Ashrun
5yo stallion (France) Barrier 24 53kg J: Declan Bates T: Andreas Wohler
German trainer Andreas Wohler knows how to win a Melbourne Cup — the Australian Bloodstock-owned Protectionist smashed his rivals in 2014.
Six years later and owner and trainer combine again with Ashrun, who finished fourth at his Australian debut in the Geelong Cup (2,400m) a fortnight ago.
Wohler watched that race from hotel quarantine in Sydney and then drove to Melbourne to oversee Ashrun's last-ditch bid to get into the Cup via the Hotham Stakes (2,500m) on Derby Day.
His efforts were rewarded with a narrow victory, and while Hotham winners often perform well on the three-day turnaround, it's something European horses aren't generally accustomed to.
$51: 12th. Warning
4yo gelding (Australia) Barrier 8 53kg J: Luke Currie T: Anthony & Sam Freedman
Warning and his connections will be happy to be back at Flemington, the scene of his two career victories that included the Victoria Derby a year ago.
He appeared to be shaping up well for the Cups with solid performances over unsuitable distances early in the spring, but he looked disappointing when 12th in the Caulfield Cup (2,400m) behind Verry Elleegant.
Despite a recent foot issue, it may pay to forgive Warning that last-start failure because of his record at this track and the fact the Freedman name is known for preparing Cup winners going back to the 1990s.
History says, however, that only one horse since Phar Lap (1930) has won the Victoria Derby and returned the following year to win the Cup — it was Efficient in 2007.
$71: 17th. Etah James
8yo mare (New Zealand) Barrier 22 52.5kg J: Billy Egan T: Ciaron Maher & David Eustace
Etah James may start as one of the outsiders on Tuesday, but at least she boasts a win over the Cup distance of 3,200 metres.
That came back in the autumn when she defeated Cup rivals The Chosen One and Mustajeer in the Sydney Cup.
Her trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace don't mind spacing the runs of their horses and Etah James goes into the big race following two starts in six months.
The most recent of those was a fourth behind Miami Bound and Oceanex in the Moonee Valley Cup (2,500m) a week ago.
$7: 2nd. Tiger Moth
4yo stallion (Ireland) Barrier 23 52.5kg J: Kerrin McEvoy T: Aidan O'Brien
A veteran of only four race-day appearances, few horses in modern history have gone into the Cup with as few starts and such high expectations.
The young stallion made the jump from maiden class to finishing a narrow second in the Irish Derby (2,400m) to one-time Cup fancy Santiago in June.
His next-start demolition of a group-class field in Dublin caught the attention of punters who recognised the recent success of young European horses, namely Rekindling (2017) and Cross Counter (2018).
This will no doubt be Tiger Moth's toughest test, but he'll have the services of jockey Kerrin McEvoy who has three Cups, while training legend Aidan O'Brien is still searching for his first.
$71: 11th. Oceanex
5yo mare (New Zealand) Barrier 17 51.5kg J: Dean Yendall T: Mick Price & Michael Kent Jr
Oceanex's results earlier this campaign don't look that impressive, but that's because she's been primed with to peak for her grand final.
A golden ticket into the Cup courtesy of winning the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2,800m) in May meant she hasn't had to reach her top sooner in order to race her way into the 24-horse field like some of her rivals.
With maturity, Oceanex has found her groove over staying distances and showed positive signs a week ago when third in the Moonee Valley Cup (2,500m) behind Miami Bound.
A heel issue this past week meant she had to clear a late vet check but her stable says that won't be an excuse on Tuesday.
$34: 14th. Miami Bound
Melbourne Cup Fields History Yahoo
4yo mare (New Zealand) Barrier 13 51kg J: Daniel Moor T: Danny O'Brien
One of three runners for trainer Danny O'Brien, Miami Bound rose to prominence this time a year ago as the winner of the Victoria Oaks — a race as old as the Cup itself.
The four-year-old was a dominant winner of the Moonee Valley Cup (2,500m) just over a week ago in a return to form that confirmed her shot at Tuesday's big race.
While that win came as somewhat of a surprise to punters, O'Brien believes Miami Bound will be suited by the 3,200-metre distance and a return to her home track of Flemington.
History says 30 mares have contested the Cup since 2005 and none have finished in the top three. The last Victoria Oaks winner to win the Cup the following year was Light Fingers in 1964.
$31: 5th. Persan
4yo stallion (Australia) Barrier 20 51kg J: Michael Dee T: Ciaron Maher & David Eustace
Persan will arrive at the barriers on Tuesday for what will be the 11th start of a campaign that began in April.
2017 Melbourne Cup Field
After switching stables from Sydney to Ballarat, the four-year-old raced with success in some of Melbourne's lower-grade staying contests over winter.
He scored five wins from nine starts before emerging as the right horse at the right time to claim the Bart Cummings Quality (2,500m) in early October and secure a spot in the Cup.
While Persan faces a challenge jumping to the elite level, some of the form around him has been franked — Steel Prince (third in the Bart Cummings) won the Geelong Cup (2,400m) at his next start.
Melbourne Cup Field 2020
#endcards
Prices correct at 8:10am AEDT Tuesday
Credits:
- Reporting: Daniel Franklin
- Illustrations: Tim Madden
- Development: Colin Gourlay and Andrew Kesper