Only three horses have ever won the Melbourne Cup and then gone on to win the Cox Plate the following year: Phar Lap, Might and Power and Makybe Diva.
Seven horses have completed the Cox Plate – Melbourne Cup double including Makybe Diva. The inaugural champion Violoncello (1922) won his next three starts that spring while the most recent Cox Plate winner was Chris Waller's star mare Winx who went back to back in 2015-16, the first dual winning mare since Sunline.
11 winners have done the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double, while seven horses have done the Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double.
The most successful Cox Plate horse in history was four-time hero Winx, the mighty mare winning the race from 2015-18. Prior to Winx, Kingston Town (1980-82) won the Cox Plate three times.
Only one horse has ever won the race in the same year as winning the Melbourne and Caulfield cups, Rising Fast (1954), considered by many to be the greatest-ever horse from New Zealand.
1. Man o' War. Foaled in 1917 at Nursery Stud, in Kentucky, and bred by financier August Belmont Jr., Man o' War has received wide acclaim as the best racehorse of all time.
Current winners of the Caulfield Cup – Melbourne Cup double are: Poseidon (1906), The Trump (1937), Rivette (1939), Rising Fast (1954), Even Stevens (1962), Galilee (1966), Gurner's Lane (1982), Let's Elope (1991), Doriemus (1995), Might And Power (1997) and most recently the star Kiwi mare Ethereal (2001).
Melbourne Cup Barrier Statistics
However, no horse has won from barrier 18 in the 84 years that they've been in use.
He won the Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates, the Australian Derby, and 19 other weight-for-age races. Flemington Racecourse c. 1930. Atherton, California, U.S.
Cox Plate - Moonee Valley Racecourse
Raced over 2040m at the Moonee Valley Racecourse each year, the Cox Plate is a Group One weight-for-age event, that sees the cream of Australian and International talent competing for the $5 million in prize money.
The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3:16.3.
Jockeys are entitled to 5% of the prize money earned and will usually also receive a small amount for booking the ride. While the race horse owners are entitled to keep the Melbourne Cup trophy, jockeys are presented with a miniature cup which is worth $10,000.
Melbourne Cup Saddlecloth Statistics
Numbers 4 and 12 are the most successful boasting 11 wins.
In it's long history the Melbourne Cup has been won twice by four horses; Archer (1861 & 1862), Peter Pan (1932 & 1934), Rain Lover (1968 & 1969) and Think Big (1974 & 1975).
Favourites win percentage – 23% have won the Melbourne Cup (34 of 150 favourites). Most runs – Shadow King ran six times in seven years from 1929 and 1935. Finishing 6th, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd and 4th. Oldest winners — Three horses have run as 8yos - Toryboy in 1865, Catalogue in 1938 & Twilight Payment in 2020.
Some of the more notable Melbourne Cup winners include Carbine (1890), Phar Lap (1930), Peter Pan (1932 & 1934), Comic Court (1951), Rising Fast (1954), Galilee (1966), Rain Lover (1968 & 1969), Kiwi (1983), Vintage Crop (1993), Saintly (1996), Might And Power (1997) and Makybe Diva (2003, 2004 & 2005).
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races. He is considered by many to be the greatest racehorse of all time.
Buchiko, the most beautiful race horse ?
Man O' War is commonly known as the greatest racehorse in history. What horse has never lost a race? Australia based “Black Caviar” retired with a 25-0 racing record.