1979 Melbourne Cup

1979 Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup
Location	Flemington Racecourse
Date	5 Nov 1979
Distance	3200m
Winning horse	Hyperno
Winning time	3:21.8
Final odds	7/1
Jockey	Harry White
Trainer	Bart Cummings
Owner	Sir Thomas & Lady North, Mr & Mrs George Herscu & Dr Ray Lake
Conditions	Fast
Surface	Turf
←  1978 1980  →

Tackled by Red Nose, Slamander and on the outside is Hyperno, here's Cupacade with a powerful run from Warri Symbol. It's Red Nose and Salamander together at the 200, on the outside Hyperno and Salamander going stride for stride from Red Nose. Salamander a head in front, Hyperno's grabbing him, the go to the post together... Hyperno if anything's won it a nose to Salamander!

Commentator Bill Collins describes the climax of the race

The 1979 Melbourne Cup was a handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1979 over 3200m, at Flemington Racecourse.

The race was won by the New Zealand bred gelding Hyperno, trained by Bart Cummings and ridden by Harry White. The runner up was Salamander trained by T J Hughes, and third place went to Red Nose trained by T Green. ^[1] The winning margin was a short half head with a further one and three quarter lengths to third place.

During the race Hyperno collided with the champion racehorse Dulcify, who had to be put down following the race. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

Hyperno was bred in New Zealand by Fairdale Stud, sired by Rangong (GB) and his dam was Mikarla (NZ) by Persian Garden II (GB). Hyperno had placed third in the 1977 Melbourne Cup when trained by Geoff Murphy and ridden by Brian Andrews. In 1977 he won the Newcastle Gold Cup and in 1978 The BMW Stakes and C F Orr Stakes. He also won the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1979 and 1980, Blamey Stakes in 1980 and 1981 as well as the Australian Cup and Rawson Stakes in 1981.

The 1979 Cup gave Bart Cummings his seventh Melbourne Cup win. Bart went on to record twelve Melbourne Cup training victories. ^{[4] [5]}

Harry White's winning ride was his fourth Melbourne Cup victory, the others being on Think Big in 1974 and 1975 and Arwon for George Hanlon in 1978.

Field

The following are the placegetters in the 1979 Melbourne Cup. ^[6]

Place	Horse	Weight (kg)	Trainer	Jockey
1st	Hyperno	56	Bart Cummings	Harry White
2nd	Salamander	55.5	Tom Hughes	Roy Higgins
3rd	Red Nose (NZ)	51.5	T Green	Midge Didham

References

1. "Past Winners - 1971 to 1980 Melbourne Cup Winners - Races.com.au". www.races.com.au. 22 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
2. "Hyperno: One Of Australia's Great Racing Thoroughbreds". www.progroupracing.com.au. 24 August 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
3. Presnell, Max (30 October 2014). "Triumph and tragedy in equal doses featured in 1979 edition of Melbourne Cup". The Sydney Morning Herald.
4. "Bart's Melbourne Cup winners". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
5. "Bart Cummings – Twelve Melbourne Cups. Thirteen Australian Cups". www.vrc.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
6. Cummings, J.B. (2009). Bart: My life. Pan Macmillan, Australia. ISBN   9781405040150