2005 Melbourne Cup

The 2005 Melbourne Cup was held on Tuesday, November 1 2005. It was won by Makybe Diva for the third time in a row, the first time this has happened in the history of the cup. The Melbourne Cup is the most popular horse race in Australia, and is televised around the world. The 24 horses which qualified for the 2005 race are:

A strategy often used by jockeys is to stay behind for most of the race, before a final sprint at the end. In this year, for instance, none of the first four horses in the race were ahead anywhere before the final 500 metres. All the horses which had been in the top four during the race did not win the race or even place. The horse Mr. Celebrity was ahead for most of the race but ended up coming in 23rd. Umbula, which was ahead at the start ended up coming in 20th.

Results

Final moments

As they left the straight, round the turn and along the back straight it was:
# 17 Umbula
# 23 Mr Celebrity
# 18 Bazelle
# 14 Portland Singa

Changed to:
#23 Mr Celebrity
#18 Bazelle
#17 Umbula
#14 Portland Singa

Then:
#23 Mr Celebrity
#14 Portland Singa
#18 Bazelle
#17 Umbula

With about 1100m left to go it was:
#23 Mr Celebrity
#14 Portland Singa
#17 Umbula
#18 Bazelle

As they came to the turn:
#23 Mr Celebrity
#14 Portland Singa
#17 Umbula
#6 Eye Popper

Then:
#23 Mr Celebrity
#14 Portland Singa
#6 Eye Popper
#17 Umbula

With 500m left to go:
#14 Portland Singa
#23 Mr Celebrity
#6 Eye Popper
#13 Lachlan River

Final:
#1 Makybe Diva
#16 On a Jeune
#8 Xcellent
#22 Leica Falcon

Video

* Race video on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em-PsEhVlLU YouTube]