Caulfield Cup

The Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world (2400 metre or metric mile-and-a-half handicap) is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the first Tuesday of November as well. Performances in the Caulfield Cup are one of the possible qualification methods for a run in the Melbourne Cup. A horse that has won both Caulfield and Melbourne Cups has been said to have won the 'cups double', and many horses have done this such as "Ethereal" and "Might and Power". The race is open to horses three-years-old and over.

Race history

* The Australian Test cricketer Clem Hill was the handicapper for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club (VATC) and responsible for setting the weights for the Caulfield Cup from 1937 to 1943.
* Jockey Scobie Breasley rode the winner of four consecutive Caulfield Cups from 1942 to 1945. This included a division of the 1943 race, which was run in two divisions.
* Trainer Bart Cummings holds the record for training Caulfield Cup winners with six - Galilee, Big Philou, Leilani, Ming Dynasty (twice), and Let's Elope.

Caulfield Cup Winners

* † In 1969 Nausori was first past the post but a protest by jockey Roy Higgins on Big Filou was upheld.
* Two Caulfield Cups were held in 1881.
* The 1943 Cup was run in two divisions.

Incidents

In 2007, Maldivian and Eskimo Queen were late scratchings. Maldivian, shortest price favourite for 41 years, misbehaved and injured himself in the starting stalls, frightening second priced favourite Eskimo Queen who for a time was trapped beneath the stalls. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/horse-racing/the-day-kavs-luck-ran-out/2007/10/20/1192301103740.html Blood, tears as trainer's luck ends] ] [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/horse-racing/injuries-mar-race/2007/10/20/1192301103754.html Injuries mar race] ] The race started almost nine minutes late.

References

* [http://www.studbook.org.au/RaceWinnersHistory.aspx?RACEID=4004 Australian Studbook - MRC Caulfield Cup Race Winners]

External links

* [http://www.caulfieldcup.com.au www.caulfieldcup.com.au (Unofficial)]