Melbourne Cup beaten favourites include Phar Lap, So You Think and Dulcify

THE odds are on your side when it come to backing the Melbourne Cup favourite. But there have been several hard-luck stories, and there are some prominent names among the beaten.

IT’S a tough race to win but Melbourne Cup favourites have a decent strike rate in Australia’s greatest race.

In its 155-year history, 34 favourites have triumphed in “the race that stops the nation”. When you think about it, that’s a 22 per cent chance of winning — one in every five races.

But while the odds are greatly in your favour when it comes to backing the Melbourne Cup favourite, there have several hard-luck stories.

And there are come prominent names among the beaten.

SO YOU THINK

Bart Cumming’s two-time Cox Plate-winning champion colt started the shortest-priced favourite in nearly 40 years when he contested the 2010 Melbourne Cup. Even though So You Think’s third may look disappointing on paper, it was a mighty effort for a horse in just his 12th race start and who had never been tested beyond 2040m.

So You Think (black and white checks and yellow sleeves) finishes third behind Americain in 2010. Picture: George Salpigtidis

SKY HEIGHTS

Caulfield Cup winner Sky Heights was bashed into the running rail only seconds after leaving the barriers in 1999. Jockey Damien Oliver said afterwards it was the roughest Melbourne Cup he had ridden in and that his mount hit the fence five times. Sky Heights ran 17th and received 14 cuts to his legs. He was a beaten favourite again in 2001 but never looked like winning after settling last from a wide gate.

Sky Heights at the back of the field in the 2001 Melbourne Cup.

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OSCAR SCHINDLER

There was massive hype surrounding Oscar Schindler in the lead-up to the 1996 Melbourne Cup, even top Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse thought the Irish stayer had “50 lengths” on the Australian and New Zealand opposition. Oscar Schindler had won the Irish St Leger and ran third in the world’s top race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. But he was a huge flop, the 4-1 favourite ran a disappointing 15th and beaten by about 50 lengths.

Oscar Schindler arrived in Melbourne with a big reputation, but was a bigger flop in the Melbourne Cup.

VEANDERCROSS

Shane Dye was savaged for his tactics on Veandercross when runner-up in the 1992 Cox Plate, and the New Zealand galloper’s second in the Melbourne Cup 10 days later was another bitter pill for punters to swallow. Veandercross was striding alongside eventual winner Subzero at the 800m mark, but while Subzero was able to peel wide and make his move, Veandercross was held up as the field rounded into the straight. By the time Veadercross found a split with 300m left, the race was over.

Veandercross (second) can’t reel in Subzero in 1992.

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DULCIFY

The saddest of Melbourne Cups, Dulcify was the hot favourite in 1979. He was travelling strongly at the 1200m but fractured his pelvis when Hyperno crashed into the back of him. Dulcify kept running on courage but was pulled up by jockey Brent Thomson in the straight. Nothing could save the champion, who had just won the Cox Plate by seven lengths, and he was later administered with a lethal injection. Hyperno went on to win the race.

A stricken Dulcify in the 1979 Melbourne Cup.

BIG PHILOU

The raging favourite in 1969, Bart Cummings’ Big Philou did not even get on the track after he was sensationally scratched 39 minutes before the race. The horse was found to be sick in his stall and led to the greatest doping scandal in racing. Tails was the new 2-1 favourite but struggled to finish seventh.

Big Philou after he was scratched from the 1969 Melbourne Cup.

PHAR LAP

Australia’s most famous racehorse, Phar Lap was set an impossible task in the 1931 Melbourne Cup when he was lumped with 68kg, the highest weight ever carried in the race. Even though Big Red was still favourite, the bookies were happy to take him on and he ran eighth. Phar Lap is the only horse to start outright favourite in three successive Melbourne Cups, finishing third as a three-year-old in 1929 before winning the following year.

The front page of The Sun in 1931 on Melbourne Cup Day.

Other notable favourites to fail:

Master O’Reilly (2007) — $3.80 (8th)

Leilani (1974) — 7-2 (second)

Glengowan (1973) — 5-2 (second)

Tulloch (1960) — 3-1 (7th)

Rising Fast (1955) — 2-1 (second)

Morse Code (1951) — 4-1 (fell)

Beau Vite (1940) — 7/4 (4th)

Duke Foote (1912) — 3/2 (unplaced)