Melbourne Cup king Bart Cummings scored first win 50 years ago today with Light Fingers
WHILE all eyes were on model Jean Shrimpton in the Members’ enclosure a great race was shaping up out on the track at Flemington in 1965.
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It was the day English model Jean Shrimpton shocked Melbourne matrons by wearing a miniskirt into the Members’ area at Flemington with no hat, gloves or stockings. While that faux pas was unfolding, a story was emerging on the track that was in many ways for more interesting.
By thumbing her nose at convention the visiting supermodel overshadowed one of the great Melbourne Cup races.
In a thrilling race that saw horses fall, stablemates Light Fingers and Ziema went neck and neck for the finish line, giving both young gun trainer Bart Cummings and local hero jockey Roy Higgins their first Melbourne Cup win.
In the lead-up to the 1965 Melbourne Cup several horses were talked about as favourites, including Sail Away, Craftsman, Strauss and Matloch. Another was Ziema trained by the up-and-coming son of Jim Cummings, James Jr, better known as J.B. or Bart Cummings.
Ziema had narrowly missed out on winning the 1965 Caufield Cup, suffering interference during the race and running second to Bore Head.
Cummings’ horse was a wild young colt known for throwing riders during track work, unless it was paired with the filly Light Fingers, who would calm Ziema down. Stable hands called the small three-year-old filly “Mother” for her ability to nurture other horses in Cummings’ stable.
New Zealand-born Light Fingers was sired by French import Le Philou, who would also sire Big Philou, the 1969 Cup favourite also trained by Cummings which was nobbled with laxatives before the race. Her dam was Cuddlesome, who had four wins.
Originally named Close Embrace but changed because race officials thought the name too risque, Light Fingers won the VRC Oaks in 1964 and the AJC Oaks earlier in 1965, but an injury sustained while training for the Caufield Cup had almost put her out of contention for the Melbourne Cup. Cummings left the decision to run her until the last minute.
Higgins knew what Light Fingers was capable of and refused an offer to ride Matloch in the race even though its odds had shortened and it was vying with Sail Away as favourite. Higgins told reporters he believed she could win and “If she does it would break my heart not to be her rider”.
On Cup Day, November 2, 1965, Higgins took the filly out for a test ride and Cummings decided she was fit to run, even though he believed she needed three more days. Higgins would not regret his decision to refuse a ride on Matloch because early in the race three horses Bore Head, Matloch and River Seine all took nasty tumbles, while the rest of the field raced on. Ziema was among the front runners as Yangtze pulled to the lead in the home straight while Light Fingers was still half way down the pack.
Ziema pulled away and Higgins pushed Light Fingers onward to chase the colt down. She quickly passed Tobin Bronze and Yangtze to draw close to Ziema.In the final lengths of the race Ziema was nearly spent but Light Fingers had enough to nose past her stablemate to win the Cup.
At the winner’s rostrum Higgins is quoted as saying “I am very attached to her and if she could I’d marry her”. Of all the winners Higgins would ever ride Light Fingers was the only one of whom he kept a picture.
Although Cummings would have his second Cup win in 1966 with Gallilee and Higgins would ride another winner in 1967, both men expressed a special fondness for Light Fingers and her role in getting them their first Cup victory.
Skirting dress protocol
IT is hard for us to imagine the furore at the Melbourne Cup when Jean Shrimpton, then girlfriend of actor Terence Stamp, stepped out at the Melbourne Cup in her above-the-knee dress, sans stockings, gloves or hat. At the time most women still wore modest below-the-knee dresses, especially at social occasions such as the races, and would not dream of leaving he house without hat and gloves. Shrimpton opened the minidress flood gates at the Cup and the following year the Flemington concourse was flooded with short dresses, hatless heads and gloveless hands.
Originally published as Melbourne Cup king Bart Cummings scored first win 50 years ago today with Light Fingers
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