For once-a-year punters, the form guide is not the essential tool in looking to find the Melbourne Cup. It’s the saddlecloth number, the name, the colours, and just about every other little detail like that which frustrates punters who actually do the form and come up with nothing while the novice collects because he/she likes the colour blue.
Cup Field 🏆: View the Melbourne Cup Field
1. Seven letter names have won the Melbourne Cup on 32 occasions, with the most famous being Pharlap in 1930. In the last 30 years however, only six have saluted. Humidor, Marmelo, Big Duke and Nakeeta are engaged for the Cup this year.
2. Only two greys have won the Melbourne Cup in the last 30 years. Efficient won in 2007 and Subzero scored a popular win in 1992. The greys will not be represented again.
3. 11 runners have done the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double. The last to do it was the champion kiwi mare Ethereal in 2001. Boom Time will attempt to be the next horse.
4. 12 six year olds have won the race over the last 30 years, the latest being Fiorente in 2013. Tiberian, Red Cardinal, Bondi Beach, Big Duke, Boom Time and Amelie’s Star are six years old.
5. In the last ten years, only one horse has come through the Caulfield Cup to win the Melbourne Cup. 8 of the 24 runners for the 2017 Cup come through the Caulfield Cup, including the favourite Marmelo, as well as Humidor, Johannes Vermeer, Ventura Storm, Wicklow Brave, Boom Time, Single Gaze and Amelie’s Star.
6. Two eight year olds have won the Melbourne Cup, but you have to go back to 1938 when Catalogue saluted. Almandin, Max Dynamite and Thomas Hobson are the eight years old in the 2017 Cup.
7. Horses with their manhood have won the last seven Melbourne Cups. 8 of the 24 runners on Tuesday haven’t had to have the worst gear change, including Tiberian, Marmelo, Johannes Vermeer, Ventura Storm, US Army Ranger, Wall Of Fire and Rekindling.
8. 19 of the last 30 winners have started from gate ten or wider, including Almandin last year (17).
9. The number 20 saddlecloth hasn’t won since 1897 when Gaulus won with 48kg on his back. Wall Of Fire will carry that saddlecloth number on Tuesday.
10. Horses with more than one word in their name have a fair record in the last 30 years. 14 of the last 30 have had more than one word, so that keeps the dream alive for 13runners in the field on Tuesday. However, since the inaugural running in 1861, only five horses with more than two words have won, so that dents the chances of US Army Ranger and Wall Of Fire.
11. The final ditch effort to squeeze into the final field of 24 for the race comes on the Saturday prior in the Lexus Stakes (2500m). Last horse to do the Lexus/Cup double was Shocking in 2009 and before then it was Brew in 2000. Cismontane won the Lexus impressively on Saturday and will go in as a contender.
12. Out of 153 runnings of the Melbourne Cup, the favourite has won 35 and placed in 72. Marmelo will likely start favourite in the race on Tuesday.
13. The obvious trainer is the legend himself, James Bartholomew “Bart” Cummings, who has trained 12 Melbourne Cup winners. Other trainers in the 2015 race to have won it previously are David Hayes (Jeune, 1994), Lee Freedman (5 times), Andreas Wohler (Protectionist 2014), Gai Waterhouse (Fiorente 2013) and Robert Hickmott (2 times).
14. Jockeys who have won the race before that are riding it on Tuesday are Blake Shinn (Viewed 2008), Kerrin McEvoy (2 wins), Glen Boss (3 wins) and Corey Brown (Shocking 2009)
15. Number 18 hasn’t been kind to the Melbourne Cup. Barrier 18 has never been a winning Melbourne Cup gate, while only two Melbourne Cup winners have carried the 18 saddlecloth. That will make it harder for Nakeeta, who has got both as it stands.
16. Only two four year old mares have won the Melbourne Cup in the last 30 years, with Let’s Elope winning in 1991 and Ethereal in 2001. No four year old mares will contest this year.
17. Over 90 international gallopers have attempted to win the Melbourne at the start of their Australian campaign. Vintage Crop has been the lone victor, back in 1993. That nearly puts the pen through Tiberian, Red Cardinal, Max Dynamite, US Army Ranger, Nakeeta, Thomas Hobson and Rekindling.
18. Non-Victorian based riders have dominated the Cup in recent times, winning seven of the last 10 editions of the great race. Numbers 4,5,6,7,9,12,14,17,18,19,20,21,22 and 24 fit the criteria.
19. Since the barriers were first used in the Cup in 1924, only two horses have come from barrier seven to win- Blackwood in that year, and then 80 years later with Makybe Diva. Good luck Libran!
20. Weights between 53kg-56.5kg have won seven of the past ten Cups, with Makybe Diva the lone horse to win beyond that weight, winning with 58kg in 2005. Beside her, only Think Big has carried 58kg or more to win the Cup, back in 1975. Hartnell won’t want to hear this.
21. 18 Cup winners have had black as their predominate colour. Recent winners have been Fiorente last year and Shocking in 2009.
22. Horses $31 or longer in the market have won seven Cups since 1861, the last being Prince Of Penzance in 2015. 11 runners in the 2017 Cup are $31 or longer in betting.
23. In 154 runnings of the race, 138 have been male. Sorry Single Gaze and Amele’s Star.
24. Since 2000, Jockeys that have worn gloves in the Cup have won eleven times. Kerrin McEvoy (Red Cardinal), Glen Boss (Ventura Storm), Steve Baster (Wicklow Brave), Brenton Avdulla (Big Duke), Cory Parish (Boom Time), Kathy O’Hara (Single Gaze) Craig Williams (Wall Of Fire), Joao Moreira (Thomas Hobson) and Dean Yendall (Amelie’s Star) are all known glove wearing riders.
