The Melbourne Cup is described in Australia as ‘the race that stops a nation’. But the Cup has become just as much a part of New Zealand life. On the first Tuesday in November every year, at around 5 p.m., New Zealand and Australia come to a standstill for about 3 minutes and 20 seconds for the call of the Melbourne Cup.
The racehorse Carbine, photographed in England around 1900, probably at Welbeck Stud. The monogrammed saddle rug carries the initial of the horse's then owner, the Duke of Portland.
Modern-day fields in the Melbourne Cup are limited to 24 horses. When Carbine won in 1890 he was in a field of 39. Carbine set a new race record despite carrying 66kg. No other winner has carried as much weight. Carbine was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.
A report on New Zealand's first Melbourne Cup winner, Martini Henry, in the Grey River Argus, 12 November 1883.
Martini Henry was the first New Zealand-bred winner of the Melbourne Cup. But it was not until 1907 that a New Zealand-owned horse, Apologue, won the race. In 1916 Sasanof became the first winner to be bred, owned and trained in New Zealand.
Read more about early NZ Melbourne Cup winners (NZETC)
Ridden by Jimmy Pike, the New Zealand-bred (but Australian-owned) wonder-horse beat Second Wind by two lengths to claim one of his greatest victories.
