| Melbourne Cup | |
| Location | Flemington Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Date | 10 Nov 1870 |
| Distance | 2 miles |
| Winning horse | Nimblefoot |
| Winning time | 3:37.0 |
| Final odds | 12/1 |
| Jockey | John Day |
| Trainer | W. Lang |
| Surface | Turf |
| Attendance | 30,000 |
The 1870 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 10 November 1870. This year was the tenth running of the Melbourne Cup. The entire carnival was pushed back a week due to a waterlogged track.
The race became a big part of Melbourne Cup folklore. Ballarat publican Walter Craig bought Nimblefoot from Melbourne bookmaker Joe Thompson. The story goes that several months before the 1870 race Craig dreams of a horse in his colours winning the race but with its jockey wearing a black arm band, a sign of mourning. Craig told friends about this and was sure that Nimblefoot would win, but he would not live to see the 12/1 shot's tense battle with Lapdog. [1] William Craig died on the morning of 17 August from gout and pneumonia. The story of his dream first appeared three months later, in the Bendigo Independent and was recounted in The Age newspaper the day before the Cup. [2] In the story Craig saw a horse, whose jockey was wearing his colours and a black armband, win the Cup. Samuel Griffiths, handicapper and turf historian, scotched the story as having been fabricated by the bookmaker Joseph Bragge "Leviathan" Slack. [3]
The winning time of 3:37.0 was at the time the fastest winning time in the race's history. [4] This is the list of placegetters for the 1870 Melbourne Cup. [5]
| Place | Name | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nimblefoot | John Day | W. Lang |
| 2 | Lapdog | J. Wilson Jr | |
| 3 | Valentine | H. Howard |
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".
Thoroughbred horse racing is a spectator sport in Australia, and gambling on horse races is a very popular pastime with A$14.3 billion wagered in 2009/10 with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). The two forms of Thoroughbred horseracing in Australia are flat racing, and races over fences or hurdles in Victoria and South Australia. Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost two million admissions to 360 registered racecourses throughout Australia in 2009/10. Horseracing commenced soon after European settlement, and is now well-appointed with automatic totalizators, starting gates and photo finish cameras on nearly all Australian racecourses.
Michelle J. Payne is an Australian jockey. She won the 2015 Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of Penzance, and is the first and only female jockey to win the event.
James "Old Jim" Wilson was a racehorse trainer in Victoria, Australia, founder of the historic St Albans Stud in Geelong, and trainer of the 1873 Melbourne Cup winner Don Juan and 1876 winner Briseis. His older son James Wilson, Jr. captained the Geelong Football Club and as "Young Jim Wilson" trained 1899 Cup winner Merriwee. His younger son William Wilson was the jockey who rode Don Juan to victory in the 1873 Cup.
Nimblefoot was an Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1870 Melbourne Cup.
Hall Mark (1930−1953) was a versatile chestnut Thoroughbred stallion. He performed in Australia, trained by Australian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Holt. He raced from a two-year-old to a five-year-old, recording 18 wins from 6 furlongs to 2 miles. Ridden mostly by champion jockeys Bill Duncan and Frank Dempsey. Hall Mark was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2019.
The 1862 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 13 November 1862.
Gothic was a black Australian thoroughbred stallion who raced for 4 seasons from a three-year-old to a six-year-old, recording major wins from 6 furlongs to 1½ miles and champion Sydney jockey Jim Pike the Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee 2002 winning 9 races.
The 1863 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Friday, 20 November 1863.
The 1864 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 3 November 1864.
The 1865 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 2 November 1865.
The 1866 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 1 November 1866.
The 1867 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 31 October 1867.
The 1876 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 7 November 1876.
The 1878 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1878.
John Day (1856–1885) was an Australian jockey, remembered for winning the 1870 Melbourne Cup. As a child he was a leading figure in the sport of pedestrianism.
The 1900 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 6 November 1900.
The 1902 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 4 November 1902.
The 1905 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 7 November 1905.
The 1907 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1907.
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