Melbourne Cup’s luckiest numbers, barriers, letters and horse colours
Forget the formguide, we’ve used the luckiest numbers and letters from years gone by that to calculate who will win this year’s Melbourne Cup.
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We’ve done the calculations, looked at all the facts and figures that matter for the Melbourne Cup and we can work out which horse — according to the statistics — is most likely to win Australia’s greatest race at Flemington.
It’s simple...
FIRST INITIALS
(First initials of past winners)
A 11
B 11
C 9
D 9
E 5
F 2
G 10
H 5
I 0
J 5
K 6
L 6
M 12
N 4
O 1
P 14
Q 0
R 11
S 12
T 15
U 0
V 4
W 8
X 0
Y 0
Z 1
MULTIPLE WINNERS
Makybe Diva 2003-04-05
Think Big 1974-5
Rain Lover 1968-9
Peter Pan 1932, 1934
Archer 1862, 1861
RIDING SILKS
(Predominant silk colour)
Blue 44
Black 33
Yellow or Gold 30
Red or Maroon 23
White 23
Green 16
Pink or Purple 15
Orange 6
Grey or Silver 4
Brown 2
Cream 1
BARRIERS (WINS)
1 5 (Prince Of Penzance 2015)
2 2 (Might And Power 1997)
3 3 (Media Puzzle 2002)
4 4 (Rekindling, 2017)
5 5 (Fiorente 2013)
6 5 (Light Fingers 1965)
7 2 (Makybe Diva 2004)
8 5 (Viewed 2008)
9 4 (Efficient 2007)
10 6 (Protectionist 2014)
11 8 (Americain 2010)
12 2 (Foxzami 1949)
13 3 (Dunaden 2011)
14 6 (Makybe Diva 2005)
15 1 (Silver Knight 1971)
16 3 (Jezabeel 1998)
17 4 (Almandin 2016)
18 (no winners)
19 6 (Cross Counter 2018)
20 2 (Empire Rose 1988)
21 5 (Vow And Declare 2019)
22 2 (Gurner’s Lane 1982)
23 3 (Brew 2000)
24 3 (Gala Supreme 1973)
AGE
Number of winners (last winner in brackets)
3YO 23 (Skipton 1941)
4YO 46 (Vow And Declare 2019)
5YO 44 (Protectionist 2014)
6YO 33 (Prince Of Penzance 2015)
7YO 11 (Almandin 2016)
8YO 2 (Catalogue 1938)
COLOUR
Wins Colour
70 Bays
37 Brown
35 Chestnuts
6 Greys Wins Colour
6 Bay/Brown
3 Black
2 Brown/Black
SADDLECLOTH
No Winners (last winner in brackets)
1 10 (Makybe Diva 2005)
2 7 (Delta Blues 2006)
3 5 (Dunaden 2011)
4 11 (At Talaq 1986)
5 8 (Protectionist 2014)
6 8 (Efficient 2007)
7 2 (Just A Dash 1981)
8 9 (Americain 2010)
9 5 (Straight Draw 1957)
10 4 (Viewed 2008)
11 7 (Empire Rose 1988)
12 11 (Makybe Diva 2003)
13 6 (Ethereal 2001)
14 5 (Green Moon 2012)
15 5 (Let’s Elope 1991)
16 3 (Piping Lane 1972)
17 6 (Almandin 2016)
18 2 (Peter Pan 1932)
19 7 (Prince Of Penzance 2015)
20 3 (Gaulus 1897)
21 2 (Shocking 2009)
22 5 (Rekindling 2017)
23 4 (Vow And Declare 2019)
24 4 (Brew 2000)
CUPS DOUBLE WINNERS
Caulfield/Melbourne Cup
Poseidon 1906
The Trump 1937
Rivette 1939
Rising Fast 1954
Even Stevens 1962
Galilee 1966
Gurner’s Lane 1982
Let’s Elope 1991
Doriemus 1995
Might And Power 1997
Ethereal 2001
SEX
Number of winners (last winner in brackets)
Entires 71 (Rekindling 2017)
Geldings 52 (Vow And Declare 2019)
Colts 19 (Skipton 1941)
Mares 13 (Makybe Diva 2005)
Fillies 3 (Sister Olive 1921)
FAVOURITES
Since the Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861, favourites have won the race 34 times including most recently with Fiorente at $7 in 2013. The shortest-priced favourite was Phar Lap who won at 11/8 on in 1930.
THE BOILOVERS
The biggest upset winners are 100/1 outsiders The Pearl (1871), Wotan (1936), Old Rowley (1940) and Prince Of Penzance (2015).
JOCKEYS
Glen Boss, Kerrin McEvoy and Damien Oliver could equal one of the most revered records in Australian racing. If either of that trio can win the Melbourne Cup, they will equal the race riding record of four wins held by jointly by Bobbie Lewis (The Victory 1902, Patrobas 1915, Artilleryman 1919, Trivalve 1927) and Harry White (Think Big 1974,1975, Arwon 1978, Hyperno 1979). Boss, who rides Sir Dragonet in the Cup, won the race three years in succession on the great Makybe Diva (2003-04-05). McEvoy is on Tiger Moth as he aims to add to his Cup wins on Brew (2000), Almandin (2016) and Cross Counter (2018). Oliver has won the Cup on Doriemus (1995), Media Puzzle (2002) and Fiorente (2013) and he rides for the record on Russian Camelot. The only other jockeys in the race to have won it previously are Michael Rodd (Mustajeer) on Efficient (2007) and Craig Williams (Surprise Baby) on Vow And Declare last year.
TRAINERS
The late Bart Cummings has the record with 12 wins in the nation’s most famous race. Incredibly, he has also led in the quinella five times. Bart’s last winner was with Viewed in 2008. Other multiple winners include Lee Freedman and Etienne De Mestre with five wins each. Danny O’Brien has four runners in today’s Cup with Vow And Declare, Russian Camelot, King Of Leogrance and Miami Bound as he aims to win the race for a second year in a row after Vow And Declare’s triumph last year. Joseph O’Brien won the race with Rekindling in 2017 and he is back with Master Of Reality and Twilight Payment. The only other trainer with a runner in today’s race to have won it previously is Germany’s Andreas Wohler (Ashrun) who scored with Protectionist in 2014.
WEIGHT
The highest-weighted winner was Carbine who shouldered an incredible 10st 5lbs (65.5kg) to win in 1890. It’s a record that is unlikely to be broken. The lowest weight carried to Cup glory was by The Banker with only 5st 4lbs (33.5kg) in 1863.
FOREIGN RAIDERS
Irish stayer Vintage Crop became the first northern hemisphere-trained stayer to win the Melbourne Cup in 1993. The Dermot Weld-trained Media Puzzle, a stablemate of Vintage Crop, won the race in 2002. Japanese duo Delta Blues and Pop Rock, ran a historic quinella in the 2006 Cup. Americain became the first horse from France to win the race in 2010. Another French horse, Dunaden, won the Melbourne Cup in 2011. Germany celebrated the Melbourne Cup win of Protectionist in 2014. Ireland won the race again with Rekindling in 2017 before England had a breakthrough win with Cross Counter in 2018.
OUR “CONCLUSION” – SIR DRAGONET
Sir Dragonet has the numbers on his side in today’s Melbourne Cup. He’s a bay and they have won 70 Melbourne Cups, nearly double the numbers of any other colour. He’s five-year-old and the age group has won 44 times, and his racing silks are predominantly blue which has 44 wins. Sir Dragonet comes out of barrier one which has been one of the more successful starting positions with six wins, his saddlecloth number of five has won eight times and his first initial “S” has 12 wins. Sir Dragonet’s jockey, Glen Boss has ridden three Cup winners and can equal the race riding record if successful today. Sir Dragonet gains the edge over Tiger Moth, Anthony Van Dyck, Ashrun, Russian Camelot and The Chosen One.
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