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".
James Bartholomew Cummings, also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he won 'the race that stops a nation' a record twelve times. During his lifetime, Cummings was considered an Australian cultural icon and an Australian National Living Treasure. His status as a racing icon in the 20th century was generally considered equivalent to that of Etienne L. de Mestre in the 19th century.
Horlicks was an outstanding Thoroughbred racemare from New Zealand. She won the internationally contested 1989 Japan Cup in a world record time of 2:22 for 2,400 metres. In addition to the Japan Cup, she won five Group One (G1) races in Australia and New Zealand.
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".
Thomas John Smith was a leading trainer of thoroughbred racehorses based in Sydney, New South Wales.
Lance Anthony O'Sullivan is a New Zealand Thoroughbred horse trainer and former champion jockey.
Robert James Skelton was a New Zealand jockey who competed from the 1950s through the 1980s. In total he won 2129 races. Among his many major race wins, Skelton rode Great Sensation to three victories in the Wellington Cup in 1961-63 and won the Auckland Cup on Rose Mellay in 1974 and again in 1977 on Royal Cadenza. In 1976, he rode Van der Hum to victory in Australia's most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup, and ten years later rode Rising Fear into second place in the 1986 Cup. He was also successful in completing a double in the Perth Cup on Magistrate in 1980 and 1981. Overall winning 20 3200m and two mile races.
David Lee Freedman is an Australian thoroughbred racehorse trainer. and Hall of Fame inductee. In partnership with brothers Anthony, Michael, and Richard, he has been a prolific winner of Australia's major races in past 20 years, with four Golden Slippers, four Caulfield Cups, two Cox Plates, and five Melbourne Cups, including two of the three won by Makybe Diva. On 19 June 2007 he won the prestigious King's Stand Stakes at the United Kingdom's Royal Ascot racecourse with his champion mare, Miss Andretti.
Gabriel Marie "Gai" Waterhouse is an Australian horse trainer and businesswoman. The daughter of Tommy J. Smith, a leading trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, Waterhouse was born and raised in Sydney. After graduating from the University of New South Wales, she worked as an actor for a time, appearing in both Australian and English television series. Having worked under her father for a period of 15 years, Waterhouse was granted an Australian Jockey Club (AJC) licence in 1992, and trained her first Group One (G1) winner later that year.
Ethereal is a New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse. The mare is best known for winning the 2001 Melbourne Cup.
Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Empire Rose (1982–2002) was one of the most popular Thoroughbred mares to race in New Zealand and Australia. She was a gigantic chestnut, only just fitting into the barrier stalls in Melbourne.
Etienne Livingston de Mestre, was a 19th-century Australian breeder and jockey of Thoroughbred racehorses. He was Australia's first outstanding racehorse trainer and racing identity. In his 30-year career, he experienced all the highs and the lows of the turf in a career which ended with him dependent on donations from racing friends.
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.
Chris Waller, is a Hall of Fame trainer in Australian Thoroughbred racing best known for training the racemare Winx, a four-time winner of Australian Horse of the Year honours.
Sir Peter James Vela is a New Zealand businessman and Thoroughbred breeder and owner. With his brother Philip he founded Vela Fishing and Pencarrow Stud. He is most notably associated with the mare Ethereal, winner of the 2001 Melbourne Cup.
Natalie Clair Rasmussen is a driver and trainer of Standardbred racehorses in Australia and New Zealand. She has been associated with many champions and is one of the leading trainers and drivers of harness horses in Australasia.
Graeme Arthur Rogerson is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained more race-day winners than any other trainer in New Zealand and for having won many Group One races in New Zealand and Australia.
David John O'Sullivan was a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is notable for having trained Horlicks to win the 1989 Japan Cup and many Group One races in New Zealand and Australia as well as being inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
