# Melbourne Cup (greyhounds)

The Melbourne Cup is a prestigious greyhound race in Australia. The Cup is the final event of the three-week Superdogs series which carries over $1 million in total prize money. The Cup is run over 515 metres (1,690 ft) at Sandown Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in November.

## History

In 1956, the first Cup was staged at Sandown Park on the grass track over 565 yards under handicap condition and was worth £500 to the winner. In 1962, the Cup was won by Saskagay, the first bitch to win the race. The prize money was £2000. In 1966, handicap conditions were eliminated. Cheltenham Lass won after finishing second in 1965. In 1967, Neville Ballinger trained the Cup quinella with Swan Opal and Dollar Hunter. In 1970, Chris Dandy won for trainer Alex Kay, the fourth consecutive winner from New South Wales.
In 1978, actor Robert Stack presented the trophy and in 1979, actor Elke Sommer presented the trophy. In 1980, a silver Mercedes-Benz was given away to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the cup. The presenter was golfer Greg Norman. In 1985 with only a small kennel of four greyhounds, the Hall of Famer Ned Bryant trained the quinella with the Brian Lenehan owned Sydney Dingaan defeating Shining Chariot.
In 1992, Schweppes became the Cup sponsor and Master Giant the winner. In 2006, Betty's Angel completed the Group 1 ADVANCE Sapphire Crown – Schweppes Melbourne Cup double, setting a new race record of 29.51. In 2011, Dyna Tron in a race record 29.21 seconds. In 2020, Hard Style Rico became the first greyhound to break 29 seconds in a final when winning the final in 28.91.
In 2016, the Cup had total prize money of A$600,000.

## Past winners

| Year | Winner | Trainer | Venue & distance | Time | Notes |
| 1956 | Rocketeer | E Patterson | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.6/16 | |
| 1957 | Rookie Rebel | W Hopper | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.14/16 | |
| 1958 | Marine Jet | G Fraser | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.9/16 | |
| 1959 | Capital King | F Garbutt | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.9/16 | |
| 1960 | Chief Ranee | M Hammond | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.13/16 | |
| 1961 | Bybrae | A Bate | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.12/16 | |
| 1962 | Saskagay | A Ludlow | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.8/16 | |
| 1963 | Saskaview | A Ludlow | (Sandown Park) 565 yards | 30.10/16 | |
| 1964 | Rocket Streak | Fred Ladd | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.6/16 | |
| 1965 | Kinta’s Son | Bob Bowman | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.10/16 | |
| 1966 | Cheltenham Lass | Paul Hogan | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.10/16 | |
| 1967 | Swan Opal | N Ballinger | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.9/16 | |
| 1968 | Mr Spot | T Rowland | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.9/16 | |
| 1969 | Milimsimbi | Stan Cleverley | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.7/16 | |
| 1970 | Chris Dandy | Alex Kay | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 31.1/16 | |
| 1971 | Gerard The Gent | Herb Skiewa | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.7/16 | |
| 1972 | Gold Grotto | Ed Tucker | (Sandown Park) 555 yards | 30.6/16 | |
| 1973 | New Mariner | R Jennings | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 31.49 | |
| 1974 | Kwik Metal | Cap Abbott | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 31.02 | |
| 1975 | Dynamic Dean | Paul Hogan | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 31.32 | |
| 1976 | Carrington Jade | K Murphy | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.70 | |
| 1977 | Milepost | Tony Collins | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.94 | |
| 1978 | Tangaloa | Joe Hilli | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.97 | |
| 1979 | Acclaim Star | W A Fletcher | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.50 | |
| 1980 | Black Aztec | H Sarkis | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.74 | |
| 1981 | Satan's Shroud | Graeme Bate | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.88 | |
| 1982 | Kid Scandal | Reg Johnson | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.70 | |
| 1983 | Lady Lilly | Colin Kelly | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.86 | |
| 1984 | Rustic Venture | Peter Denro | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.92 | |
| 1985 | Sydney Dingaan | Ned Bryant | (Sandown Park) 513 metres | 30.44 | |
| 1986 | Legendary Kid | Jim Coleman | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.62 | |
| 1987 | Speedy Mick | J Schroeders | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.52 | |
| 1988 | Hua | R Symes | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.01 | |
| 1989 | Fair Sentence | Graeme Bate | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.19 | |
| 1990 | Highly Blessed | Doug Ferrermi | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.53 | |
| 1991 | Fox Hunt | Peter Jovanovic | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.50 | |
| 1992 | Master Giant | Peter Akathiotis | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.30 | |
| 1993 | Silver Chisel | J Fleming | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.25 | |
| 1994 | Light Of Fire | Jason Thompson | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.05 | |
| 1995 | City Blitz | P Giles | (Sandown Park) 511 metres | 30.06 | |
| 1996 | Henry Hand | D Dean | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.86 | |
| 1997 | Roanokee | R Green | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.96 | |
| 1998 | Rapid Journey | J Curruthers | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.91 | |
| 1999 | Kantarn Bale | Graeme Bate | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.73 | |
| 2000 | Go Wild Teddy | M Bell | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.73 | |
| 2001 | Classic Capri | Judy Jayley | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.65 | |
| 2002 | Excite Ability | Len Poore | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.77 | |
| 2003 | Bombastic Shiraz | Darren Cairns | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.82 | |
| 2004 | Hallucinate | Darren McDonald | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.73 | |
| 2005 | Closing Argument | C Taylor | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.94 | |
| 2006 | Betty's Angel | Paul Bartolo | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.51 | |
| 2007 | Shanlyn Prince | Darren McDonald | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.60 | |
| 2008 | Surgeon | Darren McDonald | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.87 | |
| 2009 | Lord Ducal | Jon Roberts | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.53 | |
| 2010 | El Grand Senor | Carolyn Jones | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.55 | |
| 2011 | Dyna Tron | Andrea Dailly | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.22 | |
| 2012 | Got A Moment | Jason Thompson | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.37 | |
| 2013 | Black Magic Opal | Jason Thompson | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.37 | |
| 2014 | Dyna Villa | Jenny Hunt | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.36 | |
| 2015 | Dyna Double One | Andrea Dailly | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.16 | |
| 2016 | Ando's Mac | Jason Mackay | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.48 | |
| 2017 | Aston Dee Bee | Seona Thompson | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.36 | |
| 2018 | My Redeemer | David Geall | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.38 | |
| 2019 | Whiskey Riot | Anthony Azzopardi | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.44 | |
| 2020 | Hard Style Rico | Luckie Karabitsakos | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 28.91 | (track record) |
| 2021 | Koblenz | David Geall | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.40 | |
| 2022 | Yachi Bale | Mark Delbridge | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.21 | |
| 2023 | Aussie Rocks | Geoff Mitchell | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.55 | 1st Tasmanian winner |
| 2024 | Explicit | Jason Thompson | (Sandown Park) 515 metres | 29.29 | |

## Conditions

The final of the Melbourne Cup involves the winners of eight heats conducted the previous week. In order for a greyhound to qualify for the heats, it must win an 'exemption race' - a Group 1 sprint race, a Victorian country cup (except the Healesville Cup) or a group race at Sandown Park 515m - in the 12 months preceding the Melbourne Cup final.
The previous year's Melbourne Cup winner and all finalists in the 'Shootout,' a four-dog winner-takes-all event the week prior to the Melbourne Cup heats, also qualify for the Melbourne Cup heats, as do the winners of a Melbourne Cup Prelude. Melbourne Cup Preludes were first conducted in 1995.
Melbourne Cup Preludes are conducted every two weeks, with the final Prelude series conducted on the same night as the Shootout. Remaining places in the Melbourne Cup heats are awarded to the best performed greyhounds that have competed in at least one Melbourne Cup Prelude series.

### Most wins by trainers

Three-time winners:
* Graeme Bate: Satan's Shroud (1981), Fair Sentence (1989), Kantarn Bale (1999)
* Darren McDonald: Hallucinate (2004), Shanlyn Prince (2007), Surgeon (2008)
* Jason Thompson: Light Of Fire (1994), Got A Moment (2012), Black Magic Opal (2013)

### Race Records

* Fastest time - 28.909 (track record) by Hard Style Rico, 2020
* Biggest margin - 9 lengths (Fox Hunt, 1991)
* Smallest margin - Nose (Whiskey Riot, 2019)
* Longest priced winner - Classic Capri, $25.90 (2001)
* Shortest priced winner - Gold Grotto, 2/1 on ($1.50) (1972)
* First Tasmanian Winner - Aussie Rocks, (2023)