‘That was one of my best rides … I’m pretty proud of that’: Wayne Harris reflects on 1994 Melbourne Cup win aboard Jeune

Wayne Harris survived a brain tumour, managed debilitating back and spinal injuries and laughed at the risk of losing a limb to infection, all before winning the 1994 Melbourne Cup. Thirty years on, he reflects on his proudest moment in the saddle.

Wayne Harris has defied more odds than most.

He survived a brain tumour, managed debilitating back and spinal injuries and laughed at the risk of losing a limb to infection, all before winning the 1994 Melbourne Cup. This year he celebrates the 30th anniversary of his memorable win.

Less than 18 months after the Jeune glory, Harris’s brain tumour recurred and forced the 35-time Group 1 winner into early retirement.

Harris won more than 2500 races across 10 countries in a relatively short but mightily successful career.

“Bad health held me back, bad health and injuries,” Harris said.

“Whether it was a gift from somewhere to win the Cup (I don’t know but) everyone – jockeys, trainers, breeders, owners, strappers – wants to win a Melbourne Cup.

“Better jockeys than me didn’t get a chance to win it, so I feel very, very fortunate.”

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For all the adversity, Harris, 63, and wheelchair dependent, would not change a thing.

“My comebacks have been my biggest achievements, Melbourne Cup aside,” Harris said.

“My back had always given me grief and it got that bad I was in constant pain.

“I had a stack of falls and every time I fell I hurt my back … I crushed my spinal cord, broke my L4 and L5 and chipped so many vertebrae.

“Now I’ve got shunts in there to keep the fluid going through my spine. I’m in a wheelchair at the moment, it’s gone from bad to worse.”

Harris then, and now, relied on laughter and sarcasm to get by.

“I say to people you wouldn’t want me crying all the time,” Harris chuckled. “It’s better to be the other way.”

Harris, the “King of Black Humour” as dubbed by doctors and surgeons, has broken “pretty well everything”.

“My sternum, it’s nearly unbreakable they say, but a horse trod on me there,” Harris said.

“I nearly lost an eye, got kicked in the eye in one of my falls, broken collarbones, shoulder, tailbone, ribs and his hip and many more.”

Thirty years after winning the Melbourne Cup aboard Jeune, Wayne Harris (centre) catches up with fellow Cup-winning jockeys James McDonald (left) and Kerrin McEvoy. Photo: Bradley Photos

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Even the innocuous – a cut finger – became infected and landed Harris in hospital in 1993. It was from there he watched trailblazer Vintage Crop become the first international to win the Cup.

“It looked like I was going to lose my hand, if they didn’t stop the infection,” Harris said.

“They said they might cut my finger off and if we don’t, you could lose your hand, you could lose your arm.

“I joked there’s not too many one-armed jockeys going around!”

Doctors thankfully treated the infection but Harris still lost the finger.

“I was probably never going to get a ride in the Melbourne Cup (again due to weight), so to turn around and win it the next year was just unbelievable,” Harris said.

Luck and being at “the right place at the right time” helped Harris secure the ride on Jeune.

Shane Dye had first right of refusal, having run second on Jeune in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes on the Saturday before the Cup and he waited until after the barrier draw after the last on Derby Day to decide between him and Coachwood.

The Lloyd Williams-owned Coachwood drew barrier seven, two inside Jeune, and Dye committed.

Coachwood finished 18th in the Cup, beaten 20 lengths.

“David I think had four in the race but the only one I could make the weight for was Jeune,” Harris said.

“A few things didn’t go our way through the carnival and I said to David, ‘You owe me a ride’ and he said, ‘Come up to the barrier draw and we’ll see what happens’.

“Anyway, that’s what happened.”

Wayne Harris in full flight on Jeune. Picture: Supplied

With the ride locked in, Harris went to work three days out from the Cup.

First on weight, as even 56.5kg was a challenge for the naturally heavy jockey.

“I really got stuck into my diet and I don’t know how many miles I walked,” Harris said.

“I wasn’t able to run because my back was so bad but I walked for miles and miles.

“Even the morning of the Cup I walked to Flemington and weighed myself and walked back into the city.”

Long walks on the Sunday, Monday and the 13km round trip to Flemington on race day from the then Rockman’s Regency (now Marriott Hotel) in full sweat gear helped Harris shed weight.

“I got out to Flemington not really knowing what weight I was going to be and I did it that well I was able to go and have a cup of tea, which normally I couldn’t do,” Harris said.

“A little bit of fluid into me was a big plus … I had myself fit and ready to go, and Jeune did the rest.”

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Harris was big on homework, having ridden in the Cup twice previously and finished at the wrong end of the field.

He learned the form, the horses and the jockeys inside out.

“I probably knew what colour underpants all the jockeys were riding in,” Harris laughed.

“The horses’ names and colours, barriers, I had it all in my head … Patterns of horses, some come out a bit slow and others hit the ground running, there’s a couple of attrition points in the race, too.

“The 800m is the first time you see horses start getting the stitch and anywhere from there to the home turn you see them start to put up the white flag. You’ve got to be aware of it and ready to try to dodge them.”

There were nervous moments in the race itself.

How the finish of the 1994 Melbourne Cup was displayed in the next day's paper.

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Jeune jumped on terms and settled behind the speed in a tightly-packed clump as the field surged past the post the first time and around the bend towards the back straight.

“I had a couple of jockeys squealing … I had to give him a little bit of rein to hold my ground,” Harris said.

“He was on heels there and I was just praying we’d get around that turn.

“Once we got around that turn I was pretty comfortable. I followed a couple of pretty good jockeys in the race.”

Jeune travelled sweetly and when a gap appeared in the home straight he burst through.

“I slipped him a bit of rein and dashed through pretty quick,” Harris said.

“When I got the run through I thought, gee, 300m from home or maybe a touch further, it’s a long way up that straight.

“I had to try to act as cool as I could and sat as long as it could. It wasn’t until I saw the others (placegetters Paris Lane and Oompala) out of the corner of my eye I gave him a dig and smack around the bum and he responded.”

Jockey Wayne Harris is hugged by his wife Linda after winning the Melbourne Cup.

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Remarkably, Harris only went around one horse – Oppressor, the leader into the straight – the entire race.

“Probably, if you run it 10 times you might get 10 different winners,” Harris said.

“The way I was able to ride him on that occasion I am pretty proud of how it worked out.

“He might’ve helped me, luck might’ve helped me, but at the end of the day, to say that was probably one of my best rides and for it to be in a Melbourne Cup, I’m pretty proud of that.”

Harris, who works as a tipster for Sky Racing on the NSW provincial circuit, will watch the Melbourne Cup closely on Tuesday from a quiet place at Kembla Grange.

“A lot of good memories there, on Melbourne Cup Day,” Harris said.

“I try to go and watch the race quietly on my own because always someone wants to come talk when it’s on, and ask, ‘How it was and how’d you do it?’

“I do miss it, really miss the riding, although I had to do it pretty tough. I used to have to take a lot of weight off, being naturally heavy, but, gee, I’d have another go at it, if I could.”

Originally published as ‘That was one of my best rides … I’m pretty proud of that’: Wayne Harris reflects on 1994 Melbourne Cup win aboard Jeune