1875 Melbourne Cup

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1875 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
Location Flemington Racecourse
Date9 November 1875
Distance2 miles
Winning horseWollomai
Winning time3:38.0
Final odds16/1
Jockey Robert Batty
Trainer Stephen Moon
OwnerJohn Cleeland
SurfaceTurf
Attendance≈100,000
←  1874
1876  →

The 1875 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 9 November 1875. [1]

Contents

This year was the fifteenth running of the Melbourne Cup. This would be the first year of the race being held on a Tuesday. [2] [3] The day was a declared public holiday in Victoria in recognition of the 34th birthday of the then Prince of Wales Edward. [4]

There were 29 runners that had declared to run in the race, with Imperial and Kingsborough the favoured horses in early betting. [3] The top-weighted horse was John Tait's Goldsborough, who had finished seventh the previous year. 1874 Melbourne Cup winner Haricot was expected to run well again, although stable-mate Nimrod was more fancied. Following its win in the Victoria Derby, John Tait's horse Melbourne was the subject of many bets, more so than the horse it defeated in heavy conditions in that race, Richmond. [5]

A total of 20 runners made their way to the start after a number of horses were withdrawn on race day, including two nameless colts owned by Etienne de Mestre. [a] [5] The weather for the race day was overcast and windy, and showers began as the field made their way to the start. [7] Goldsborough and Nimrod had the best of the start, with Polidori racing to the front before the first turn. [6] Down the back straight, Nimrod bolted interfering with Sterling, [6] and by the time the horses approached the mile marker Polidori had ran its race and started to drop backwards. Goldsborough led the field for a time, but it was Coquette that would lead at the final turn. On the Flemington straight, Coquette wasn't able to hold off Goldsborough, but it was Wollomai that galloped clear to win by two lengths, Richmond rushed home past tiring runners to claim second place by some distance from Goldsborough in third. [7] [8] Bringing up the rear of the field were Calumny, Mohican and Calaba. [6]

Wollomai was a suprise winner, [9] having not been featured in much of the pre-race chatter, [7] with observers suggesting the horse was "too fat" and lacking fitness to cover the two miles. [8] Trainer Stephen Moon had taken over the preparation of the horse just months before the Cup after the horse was transferred from William Lang. [10] Wollomai was owned by John Cleeland who operated the Albion Hotel on Bourke Street, the hub of operations for Cobb & Co coaches. [7] [8] Cleeland at the time raced his horses under the alias Mr H. Sharpe. [10] He had previously won the Australian Cup with Shenandoah in 1868. [11] Cleeland would later name his homestead on Phillip Island after the horse. [12] Before its win in the Melbourne Cup, Wollomai had won the 1875 Midsummer Handicap on New Year's Day at Flemington and won two races at Warrnambool including the 1875 Warrnambool Cup. [13]

The winning jockey was Scottish-born Robert Batty who was 20-years-old when he won the Melbourne Cup, having won the inaugural Newmarket Handicap on board Maid of Avenel in 1874. [10]

It was estimated that there were 100,000 spectators at Flemington Racecourse, far exceeding the number from previous years, [9] although a notable absentee for the time was the Acting-Governor of Victoria, Sir William Stawell. [7]

Full results

This is the list of placegetters for the 1875 Melbourne Cup. [2] [14] [1] [10] [3] [15] [6] [8]

PlaceHorseAge
Gender		JockeyWeightTrainerOwnerOddsMargin
1Wollomai6y hRobert Batty7 st 8 lb (48.1 kg)Sam HardingJohn Cleeland [b] 16/12 lengths
2Richmond3y cC. Williams6 st 3 lb (39.5 kg)Eli Jellett16/14 lengths
3Goldsborough5y hJimmy Ashworth9 st 9 lb (61.2 kg)John TaitJohn Tait10/1
4Loquacity3y fKilduff5 st 9 lb (35.8 kg)Gabriel Bennett50/1
5Coquette4y mW. Howard6 st 7 lb (41.3 kg)Mr W. McKenzie33/1
6Imperial6y gJoe Morrison8 st 4 lb (52.6 kg) William Samuel Cox 3/1 fav.
7Dilke4y hSam Cracknell6 st 2 lb (39.0 kg)Mr G. Atkinson10/1
8Kingsborough4y hWilliam Yeomans8 st 11 lb (55.8 kg) Hercules Robinson 5/1
9KincrachnieAged mW. McLeod6 st 3 lb (39.5 kg)Mr D. McLellan14/1
N/aSterling4y hM. Bryan8 st 7 lb (54.0 kg)Thomas Ivory16/1
N/aMelbourne4y hH. Grubb8 st 6 lb (53.5 kg)John TaitJohn Tait20/1
N/aHaricot5y gLynch8 st 2 lb (51.7 kg) Thomas Chirnside & Andrew Chirnside14/1
N/aScanmag4y hMcInnes7 st 12 lb (49.9 kg)Mr G. Livingstone20/1
N/aNimrod6y gGreen7 st 2 lb (45.4 kg) Thomas Chirnside & Andrew Chirnside20/1
N/aWest Australian5y hCleary6 st 10 lb (42.6 kg)Thomas Ivory20/1
N/aKingfisherAged gRidley6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg)Mr A. Town7/1
N/aPolidori4y hHummerston6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg)Mr J.E. Warby20/1
N/aFlag of New Zealand.svg Calumny (NZL)6y mH. Lewis9 st 3 lb (58.5 kg)Mr J.B. Wallis50/1
N/aMohican4y gHarden6 st 2 lb (39.0 kg)Mr S.P. Winter50/1
LastCalaba6y hSnarey6 st 12 lb (43.5 kg)Sam Waldock50/1
SCRDante5y hN/a8 st 2 lb (51.7 kg)William FilgateWilliam FilgateN/a
SCRBenjiroo7y hN/a7 st 3 lb (45.8 kg) William Samuel Cox N/a
SCRBurwood5y hN/a7 st 0 lb (44.5 kg)Mr W. ArcherN/a
SCRThe DeerAged gN/a6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg)Mr J.S. SolomonN/a
SCRMaid Of All Work3y fN/a6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg) James Wilson N/a
SCRIvanhoe6y gN/a6 st 3 lb (39.5 kg)Mr R. FultonN/a
SCRThe Painter3y cN/a6 st 0 lb (38.1 kg) Charles Brown Fisher N/a

Prizemoney

First prize £1140, second prize £50, third prize £20. [1]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ One of the colts known as the "Sylvia colt" won at short odds the Maiden Plate, the race before the Melbourne Cup. [6]
  2. ↑ Listed under the alias Mr H. Sharpe in contemporary references.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1875 Melbourne Cup MillersGuide". millersguide.identika.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 "1871 to 1880 Melbourne Cup Winners". races com au. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Victoria Racing Club - The Cup Day". The Argus. Melbourne, Victoria. 9 November 1875. p. 6. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  4. ↑ "News of the Day". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. 9 November 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Sporting Notes". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. 9 November 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Second (Cup) Day - Tuesday, Nov. 9". The Australasian. Melbourne, Victoria. 13 November 1875. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Victoria Racing Club Spring Meeting - The Cup Day". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. 10 November 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Rolfe, Costa (2008). Winners of the Melbourne Cup. Fitzroy, Australia: Red Dog. pp. 38–39. ISBN   9781742035093.
  9. 1 2 "News of the Day". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. 10 November 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Melbourne Cup Winners - 1861-1880". Victoria Racing Club. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "John Cleeland". cleeland.org. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  12. ↑ "WOLLOMAI HOUSE". Victorian Heritage Database. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "The Melbourne Cup". The Brisbane Courier. Brisbane, Queensland. 10 November 1875. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  14. ↑ Cavanough, Maurice (1978). The Melbourne Cup (8 ed.). p. 445. ISBN   0727004859.
  15. ↑ "The Cup Day". The Argus. Melbourne, Victoria. 10 November 1875. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 8 January 2026.


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