Where the 16 living Melbourne Cup winners are now
Mark “Chopper” Read loved to spend time with 2000 Melbourne Cup winner Brew. Glenn McFarlane has tracked down the 16 living legends of the famous race.
Melbourne Cup winners can do the strangest of things to people, even to gangland figures.
Before Mark “Chopper” Read’s passing in 2013, he was a regular visitor to Living Legends – racing’s “field of dreams” where ex-champion gallopers including five Cup winners call home.
Read loved nothing better than spending tranquil time with his favourite horse, 2000 Melbourne Cup winner Brew, feeding him carrots and giving him endless pats.
His affinity had nothing to do with backing the horse to win the Cup that year, nor was it anything to do with a fondness for the odd brew.
The backstory to this unlikely bond was that Read heard Brew tried – and failed – to become a police horse after his racing career had ended.
The horse bucked so hard on one trial assignment that he almost pushed another horse into a tram.
Living Legends chief executive Dr Andrew Clarke said Read figured any horse rejected from the police force meant he was a kindred spirit.
“Remember old Chopper Read, he was a regular at our place and the horses loved him,” Dr Clarke said.
“But Brew was his favourite.
“When Brew retired he tried out for the police force and failed at the police academy. Chopper reckoned that meant he was all right.
“He came here quite often. He was always telling his mates about Brew.”
Every Cup horse, dating back to Archer in 1861, has had his or her story. Those who backed them, or cheered them home, never forget.
One couple who got engaged the year that Might And Power won the Cup in 1997 used to come to Living Legends years after to see him.
A kid who was named Josh – after his parents backed Rogan Josh in the Cup in 1999 – came back to see the horse when he was an adult.
Might And Power and Rogan Josh are gone now, but their memory lives on in the memorial garden at Living Legends.
Brew lives on as one of five Cup winners – including Efficient, Prince Of Penzance, Almandin and Twilight Payment – living out their days on the Living Legends farm at the old Woodlands Homestead in Greenvale.
Brew will officially turn 28 on November 24, making him the oldest of the 16 living Melbourne Cup winners.
The Sunday Herald Sun set out to track down those winners to find out how they were spending their days far from the madding Flemington crowds.
Incredibly, one is chasing a second Melbourne Cup, three years after his first success.
Another has just recently retired and will soon look towards motherhood after a Parisian working holiday.
They are spread out across the globe.
Some remain in Australia, one is still turning eyes in Japan, two more are at stud in Ireland, another in Germany, two are back home in New Zealand and another is enjoying retirement at Newmarket in the UK.
VERRY ELLEEGANT
2021 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Currently in Chantilly, France, but will return home to Australia next year.
Now: Twelve months ago, she was the darling of the Melbourne Cup; now she’s preparing for the next phase in her life.
Verry Elleegant’s European adventure didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to, but the globetrotting seven-year-old is now enjoying “the pristine fields of France” ahead of a date next year with one of the world’s best stallions to northern hemisphere time.
Her life as a broodmare is assured deep into the future with her owners committed to giving her the best possible chance of producing a champion.
It doesn’t always work out that way, but they won’t die wondering.
Her owners said last week: “Verry Elleegant’s lasting legacy won’t be measured by her prizemoney or Group 1 tally, but more so by the joy and happiness she brought her legion of fans and her indomitable will to win that inspired us all.”
TWILIGHT PAYMENT
2020 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
Now: “Twiggy” has just started in the Living Legends’ riding program and is loving life.
Dr Clarke said of the seven-year-old: “He’s only a little bloke and he is very light on his feet.
“He was such a brave frontrunner as a racehorse; there was a touch of Might And Power about him.
“He is a bit wound up like a spring sometimes. We give them a good break and the crew are doing round yard work (with him). He will mellow down.”
VOW AND DECLARE
2019 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Danny O’Brien’s stables at Flemington and 13th Beach, Barwon Heads.
Now: Three years on from his Melbourne Cup heroics, Vow And Declare is back to represent Australian-bred horses in the 2022 version.
It will be a triumph of sorts given he suffered an injury last spring that had O’Brien and the owners briefly considering retirement. Thankfully, the seven-year-old has come back strongly.
“He’s in really good order,” the trainer said. “We couldn’t be happier with him.”
The stable expects him to run another mighty race on Tuesday.
CROSS COUNTER
2018 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Woodditton Stud, Newmarket, England
Now: Cross Counter has begun a new life as a flag-bearer for Godolphin Lifetime Care, the program which provides care for thoroughbreds once their racing days are over.
Over the last year, he has undergone schooling sessions at Godolphin’s Rehoming yard both on the flat, learning to go in an outline, and popping over some small jumps.
He has also enjoyed hacking around the nearby villages, encountering all manner of new things that he wouldn’t have seen while he was in training – including dustbins!
In the past month he was the star of the Retraining of Racehorses parade at Dubai Future Champions Festival at Newmarket Racecourse.
Cilla Leonard, Godolphin Rehoming Manager, said: “Cross Counter has stolen all of our hearts here. He is the star of the yard, and doesn’t he just know it!”
REKINDLING
2017 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Kenmare Castle Stud, Limerick, Ireland
Now: The search for a son of High Chaparral to stand at Kenmare Castle Stud led William Fox to Rekindling.
Post his racing career, Rekindling was offered for sale as a stallion in December 2020 at Tattersalls, but was passed in for 95,000 guineas (almost $200,000).
So he remained with Joseph O’Brien until earlier this year when Fox came calling.
Fox told the Racing Post: “I have a number of mares that are suitable and I bought a few more to go to him, so I have put together a small band of my own that are suitable for him and he’s going to cover away.”
“I started inquiring about Rekindling and the best way to find out is to pick up the phone, so I rang Joseph O‘Brien and asked him where the horse was.
“He told me that the horse was still with him and it took off from there. He spoke with Lloyd Williams and his team in Australia and they were happy for the horse to go to stud here.”
ALMANDIN
2016 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
Now: “Din” shares a paddock with fellow Cup winner Prince of Penzance, “two big personalities.”
He is known as the “gymnast” because he can seemingly get himself into the most awkward of positions before extricating himself.
“He can run around the paddock and do double pirouettes and almost backflips,” Dr Clarke said.
“It is not very often Almandin has all four feet on the ground when you take him out.
“He came with a bit of a reputation of being a fiery little bloke. But he has mellowed a lot in the paddock.”
PRINCE OF PENZANCE
2015 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
Now: They call him “Pop”, but we know him as Prince of Penzance, the horse that made Melbourne Cup history when Michelle Payne piloted him to victory seven years ago.
“He just loves a routine, especially when the visitors give him his carrots,” Dr Clarke said.
“He loves his food. If the feed is out five minutes later, he is almost looking at his watch,”
“I was a bit surprised when he arrived that he was as small as he was.
“But Maddie Raymond did some of the early work with him and she said ‘When you sit on him, he rides like a big horse.”
PROTECTIONIST
2014 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Gestut Rottgen Stud, near Cologne, Germany
Now: As a five-time Group 1 winner in three countries and a son of the great Monsun, Protectionist stands at Gestut Rottgen Stud in his native Germany.
As bloodstock agent Ronald Rauscher said of the stallion: “Together with Australian Bloodstock we are grateful for the immense confidence the breeders show in Protectionist.”
“Protectionist’s support in great numbers as well as the first promising looking foals give him first chances at a very successful stallion career.”
Who knows, we might see one of his sons or daughters wearing Australian Bloodstock colours in a Melbourne Cup one day.
FIORENTE
2013 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Widden Stud, Riddells Creek, Victoria
Now: Gai Waterhouse’s Melbourne Cup winner is still making his mark at stud and is the sire of one of this year’s leading contenders.
Fiorente is the sire of Lunar Flare, who won her way to a golden ticket into the Cup by winning the Bart Cummings.
Adam Henry, from Widden Stud, said Fiorente had 30 winners at 2000m or more last season, which was third over that distance range in Australia behind Tavistock (39) & Dundeel (31).
“Hopefully Lunar Flare can emulate Fiorente by winning the Cup,” Henry said.
“He is doing well and loving life in the covering sheds.
“He is a real gentleman around the farm.
“People love to see him on the farm, not just as a Cup winner, but as Gai Waterhouse’s Cup winner.”
Fiorente has had 249 runners with 135 winners, with his progeny earning $16m to date.
GREEN MOON
2012 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Resides at billionaire property tycoon and trainer Luke Comer’s Stud, Ireland
Now: A decade on from winning the Melbourne Cup, Green Moon is living out his days as a private stallion at Luke Comer’s Stud.
The son of Montjeu, he is understood to serve some of Comer’s hurdling mares.
SHOCKING
2009 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Rich Hill Stud, Walton, New Zealand
Now: John Thompson, Rich Hill’s managing director, has a miniature Melbourne Cup in his office and a Melbourne Cup winner in the breeding barn.
The miniature cup came as a result of Rich Hill Stud being the breeder of 2015 Cup winner Prince of Penzance.
The Cup winner in the paddock is Shocking, the 2009 Cup winner, who has done a strong job at stud in his time at Rich Hill Stud.
He almost had a Cox Plate last week (I’m Thunderstruck) and has had leading Cup contenders in recent seasons including Surprise Baby, who finished fifth in the 2019 Cup.
“He’s always had a good horse running around,” Thompson said.
“He has been a really good commercial sire, but he has been a little underestimated at times.
“A few years ago, (leading trainer) John Hawkes called through the stud and all he wanted to do was to get a picture of Shocking. It’s that X-factor of the Melbourne Cup.”
EFFICIENT
2007 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
Now: He raced as a steely grey, winning a Victoria Derby and a Melbourne Cup a year apart, but “Fish” is as white as snow these days.
“Lloyd Williams always says Efficient is his best Cup winner,” Dr Clarke said.
“Fish has got that little bit of Zabeel mongrel in him, and he can sometimes be a bit of a handful.
“But Angie Hill, who strapped him all through his career, still comes and takes him out. He will pin his ears back, but Angie will say: ‘Fish, come on’ and he listens to her.”
DELTA BLUES
2006 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Old Friends Japan Farm, Okayama, Japan
Now: Delta Blues might be 22 and almost 15 years into his retirement, but he is one of the most popular horses at Old Friends Japan.
Much in the vein of Living Legends in Australia, Old Friends Japan is a thoroughbred facility for retired racehorses set in the green fields of Okayama.
A spokesperson for the farm said Delta Blues was one of the star attractions, spending part of his time at Northern Horse Farm.
“We have Delta Blues. He enjoys a good environment here,” the spokesperson said.
“He came to us one year ago. He enjoys the grass here. He is very well loved.”
MAKYBE DIVA
2003, 2004 and 2005 Melbourne Cups
Lives: Makybe Stud, Gnarwarre, Victoria
Now: The triple Melbourne Cup winner is still “very much the queen of her paddock”, according to Makybe Stud’s Sue Blight.
“She still loves her apples whenever (owner) Tony (Santic) goes past her paddock.”
Blight said they were hoping The Diva could return to Flemington next November for the 20th anniversary of her first Melbourne Cup triumph.
While “lightning hasn’t struck twice yet” in terms of her progeny, Makybe Diva has a number of family members still on the farm, even if she has been retired from broodmare duties.
“We’ve still got a few on the property as Tony never liked to give them away,” Blight said.
“She was a lifetime experience.”
ETHEREAL
2001 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Pencarrow Stud, Tamahere, Waikato, New Zealand
Now: Ethereal, the last horse to win a Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double, still calls Pencarrow Stud home.
She was born on the farm, reared there and has lived out her post racing career as a broodmare and cult hero around the famous stud.
She has long since retired from breeding duties, but stud manager Leon Casey says the 25-year-old champion is still the most loved horse on the farm.
“You hope they will go on forever and of course we know they don’t, but she is very happy and she looks well, even if her days of featuring in magazines are probably gone,” he said.
“She’s got the same character and attributes she has always had.
“I think she had her last foal at 18, but we’ve maybe got a dozen descendants of her still on the farm. It’s great to still have her around.”
BREW
2000 Melbourne Cup
Lives: Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
Now: Brew is the oldest living Cup winner, having won the first Cup of the new millennium.
“We always reckoned he was a bit of a Lleyton Hewitt because he could chuck a bit of a tantrum at any given time,” Dr Clarke said.
“But this week we were in a nursing home with school kids and he was so good.
“I don’t want to moz him or anything like that, but he is glowing at the moment.”
WHERE ALL THE LIVING MELBOURNE CUP HORSES ARE NOW
2000: Brew – Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
2001: Ethereal – Pencarrow Stud, Waikato, New Zealand
2003, 2004, 2005: Makybe Diva – Makybe Stud, Gnarwarre, Victoria
2006: Delta Blues – Old Friends Japan Farm, Okayama, Japan
2007: Efficient – Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
2009: Shocking – Rich Hill Stud, Walton, New Zealand
2012: Green Moon – Luke Comer’s stud, Ireland
2013: Fiorente – Widden Stud, Riddells Creek, Victoria
2014: Protectionist – Gestut Rottgen Stud, near Cologne, Germany
2015: Prince Of Penzance – Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
2016: Almandin – Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
2017: Rekindling – Kenmare Castle Stud, Ireland
2018: Cross Counter – Woodditton Stud, Newmarket, England
2019: Vow And Declare – Danny O’Brien Stables, Flemington and 13th Beach, Victoria
2020: Twilight Payment – Living Legends, Greenvale, Victoria
2021: Verry Elleegant – Chantilly, France
Originally published as Where the 16 living Melbourne Cup winners are now
Comeback hoop recalls scary moment that nearly paralysed him
Grant Buckley will have his first ride back almost eight months after a horse flipped on him, and reveals how close he came to being unable to walk again.
‘Waiting my turn’: Tom’s stocks rise with first Group 1 ride
Eight years, a number of injuries and almost 400 wins have formed the path to jockey Thomas Stockdale’s maiden Group 1 ride in Saturday’s CF Orr Stakes at Caulfield.
Diet delivers stakes breakthrough for She’s Bulletproof
She’s Bulletproof claimed a deserved stakes win in the Group 3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes after she was put on a diet and exercise program.