Double Melbourne Cup winner Jim Cassidy recalls historic victories

DUAL Melbourne Cup winner Jim Cassidy tells us how the race that stopped a nation transformed his life. The legendary Arcadia jockey notched up historic victories in 1983 and 1997, the first one just five years after he got his jockey licence.

Jim Cassidy with his miniature Melbourne Cup jockey trophies. Picture: Sue Graham

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DUAL Melbourne Cup winner Jim Cassidy tells us how the race that stopped a nation transformed his life. The legendary Arcadia jockey notched up historic victories in 1983 and 1997.

I’ve loved racing since about the age of 11. I just had a passion for horses. I used to play footy and then go straight to the races with Mum and Dad. I had no racing background whatsoever. It was a passion I have and I always loved it. I wanted to go away to the stables and learn.

I did my last year of school in a place called Hastings. In January 1983 I won the Wellington Cup (in New Zealand).

Five years after I got my licence I won the Melbourne Cup. It is the race that stops the nation and now it stops the world.

Cassidy as a fresh-faced jockey after winning his first Melbourne Cup in 1983.

And on Might And Power after winning in 1997.

Nothing has really changed as far as prestige. The only thing is internationals come and race in it now.

The prestige has gone up and up every year. It’s every jockey’s dream. To be one of 24 jockeys is amazing.

To win one’s life changing. There’s opportunities. Doors open.

I was living in New Zealand and got the opportunity to live in Sydney. And I’ve never left.

I won the race I dreamt of winning.

After a remarkable comeback, Kiwi snared the 1983 Melbourne Cup.

I won the Wellington Cup in ‘83 and away I went. When the opportunities come you have to make the most of them.

I was delighted. It was a thrill to get the opportunity to win. Kiwi was 11/1.

It was a little bit unknown in that respect.

Kiwi looms up on the outside to win, 100 metres from the post, as per Cassidy’s strategy.

He came from last. I was running 24 out of 24 for the whole way until The Clocktower.

I came out of The Clocktower and made sure I was in striking distance. It was a strategy.

The plan was to be as close to The Clocktower, 100m, 200m out.

I had no negativity at all.

‘I loved Kiwi. He was a great horse’: Cassidy

Trainer Jack Denham hugging Cassidy after Might and Power won.

I think I’m the only one to win from last.

I think I dreamt about winning the Melbourne Cup and all of a sudden I was in a position I could do it. I couldn’t believe it. I was confident, arrogant, I loved Kiwi.

He was a great horse.

It was very proud being a Kiwi jockey and a horse named Kiwi — you couldn’t ask for anything better.

It’s probably one of the most talked about Melbourne Cups. It still gives me goosebumps.

It probably took a month to settle in. It was just unbelievable, a dream come true.

Might and Power at Woodlands Park on the edge of Melbourne in 2006 with Cassidy and Greg Hall. Hall, riding Doriemus in the Cup in 1997, raised his arms believing he had won, only to be beaten by Might and Power.

After ‘83, if I could never win the Melbourne Cup again I would have been satisfied.

My son-in-law Jack’s a jockey; he’s got a dream to win the Melbourne Cup.

Might and Power and Kiwi were chalk and cheese.

Totally different, different circumstances; one was a true two-miler, the other one you had to ride quieter.

Cassidy rides Might and Power Jim Cassidy (back) in the 1997 Melbourne Cup race.

I was confident with Might and Power in 1997 but certainly not as confident as with Kiwi.

It had odds of 4/1. It was different circumstances.

I had been suspended for 18 months to two years prior.

If you don’t have nerves going into the Melbourne Cup you shouldn’t be there.

It’s a workload that takes 12 months to two years to prepare for.

I feel great because it is a dream and I was lucky enough to achieve it at the young age of 20.

I’ll say to young jockeys ‘What do you want to do?’ If they say ‘I want to be a champion, I’ll help you’. If they say ‘I don’t know then’ I can’t help them. It’s my way or the highway.

You’ve got to have something to strive for and to be the best.

You’ve got to make sacrifices, be punctual.

You’ve got to work hard to get to the top and stay there.