The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms 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".
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100–120 lb. (45–55 kg), and physically fit. They are typically self-employed, and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer and a percentage of the horse's winnings. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries.
Michael Walker is a New Zealand-born former jockey of Māori ancestry who won the New Zealand premiership and also competed in Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Damien Oliver is an Australian retired thoroughbred racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver had a successful career until his death in a race fall during the 1975 Kalgoorlie Cup in Western Australia. In 2008, Oliver was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In August 2023 he announced that he would retire at the end of that year's spring carnival.
Darren Gauci is a former Australian jockey.
Roy Henry Higgins MBE was an Australian jockey who rode from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. His talent in the saddle was to later earn him the nickname "The Professor".
Delta Blues was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2006 Melbourne Cup. He was the first Japanese horse to win the Cup. In doing so he defeated Pop Rock, another Japanese horse, also trained by Katsuhiko Sumii.
Subzero, nicknamed "Subbie", was an Australian thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1992 Melbourne Cup.
William James Williamson was an Australian jockey who enjoyed considerable success in Australia during the 1950s and in Europe during the 1960s. He was named after his father William James Williamson, a machinist, and his wife Euphemia Agnes.
Frank Reys (c.1931–1984) was an Aboriginal Australian jockey. He was the first, and as of 2022 the only Indigenous Australian jockey to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup when, in 1973, he rode to victory on Gala Supreme.
Kayla Stra is a jockey and television personality in Thoroughbred horse racing who began racing in Australia, until coming to compete in the United States at racetracks in California. She currently rides once again in Southern California, after riding in the Northern California circuit. This was after a 2-year riding stint in the Southern California area. Stra is also known for her appearances on the reality television show Jockeys on Animal Planet.
Michelle J. Payne is a retired Australian jockey. She won the 2015 Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of Penzance, and is the first and only female jockey to win the event.
Darren Beadman is an Australian champion jockey. In 2007 at age 41 he was the youngest jockey ever to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, being the first to do so while still active in the industry.
Silvestre de Sousa is a Brazilian flat racing jockey who is based in Britain and was three times champion jockey.
James Scobie was an Australian jockey and racehorse trainer. He was an inaugural inductee to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2001.
Brent Thomson is a New Zealand jockey, who is best known for winning the Cox Plate on four occasions and his association with the champion horse Dulcify.
Kevin Shea is a former South African horse racing jockey. He was a former stable jockey for trainer Mike de Kock, and rode 26 Grade 1 winners for the trainer.
Owen Patrick "Opie" Bosson is a jockey in Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand.
Mervyn "Merv" Maynard was an Aboriginal Australian jockey who rode numerous winners in a career spanning almost five decades.
Michael Moroney is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained Brew to win the 2000 Melbourne Cup and many other Group One races in New Zealand and Australia.
