It was so close not even the jockeys could tell you who won when dominant frontrunner Might And Power and the fast-finishing Doriemus both stretched for the finishing post in the 1997 Melbourne Cup.
As was his way, jockey Jimmy Cassidy pushed Might And Power to the lead from the jump and there he stayed. The powerful gelding, trained by Jack Denham, looked to have the Cup in the bag as he held off the field with a two-length lead down the straight until one bold challenger finally emerged with the winning post in sight. Jockey Greg Hall got Doriemus to kick and when the two crossed the line it was impossible to tell with the naked eye who had won.
Hall, however, thought it was his and punched the air in delight. The photo finish revealed otherwise and it was Might And Power who stuck his nose out furthest on the inside run to snare the Cup. He would go on to be named the World Champion Stayer that year and in 1998 added a Cox Plate to his Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, only the second horse to do so after Rising Fast in 1954.
Chautauqua’s miracle
If you went looking for Might And Power’s polar opposite it would be Chautauqua. The temperamental grey sprinter — his trainer once suggested he’d lick windows if he was human — would always be slow out of the gates before launching a blistering finish that would leave punters with their hearts in their mouths.
The quintessential case came in the 2017 TJ Smith Stakes. Chautauqua had won the previous two instalments with typical late runs and another was needed if he was to create history as the first triple winner of the famous Randwick sprint.
The Grey Flash was two lengths behind the field coming around the bend and caller Darren Flindell didn’t even bother to mention him as they headed for the finishing post. But just as Flindell had decided it was between English and Russian Revolution, he suddenly had to avert his gaze: “Chautauqua comes late. Can he do it? He’s flying ... YES!”
Caviar’s heartstopper
When Black Caviar entered the barriers at Royal Ascot in 2012 she had an entire nation on her back. It nearly broke her.
The world’s greatest sprinter had dominated her rivals on home tracks for 21 straight wins and it was time to show the other side of the planet how good she was.
Starting a short favourite for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in her first overseas start against a crack field, jockey Luke Nolen put “Nelly” into the lead halfway into the race and there she stayed, settling into her famous cruising speed and effortlessly putting a length on the field. We’d seen this before ... 21 times. Nobody had ever caught Black Caviar.
It looked all too easy until the winning post neared and Black Caviar seemed to drop down a gear as French-trained filly Moonlight Cloud picked up speed. Nelly stumbled over the line and looked to be beaten. Her knockabout trainer Peter Moody, already looking uncomfortable in top hat and tails, held his breath until Black Caviar’s win by a head was confirmed.
So why did she slow up? X-rays later revealed Black Caviar had sustained an 8cm muscle tear during the run. Nolen knew something was wrong and eased her up thinking she had the race in the bag. “The big engine shut down and I shit myself truly,” he would say later.
Race of the century
It was like the rest of the field was invisible when two New Zealand gallopers went head to head at Moonee Valley in the 1986 Cox Plate. It would become known as the Race of the Century.
Our Waverley Star sat three wide until the final bend with caller Bill Collins dubious the gelding had any chance at all. “Our Waverley Star will wanna be Phar Lap,” he said. A nanosecond later the button was pushed on Bonecrusher and his rival followed him to the front of the field. So aggressive was the move Collins asked, “have they gone too early?”
Lesser horses might have wilted but these two iron horses pushed each other to the very end.
Our Waverley Star took a length lead only for Bonecrusher to peg it back. They swapped the lead until the post when Collins called it ... “and Bonecrusher races into equine immortality”.
The triple dead heat
Photo finishes were introduced into Australian racing in 1946 and the technology received its greatest test 10 years later in the Hotham Handicap at Flemington.
Fighting Force, Ark Royal and Pandie Sun could not be separated when they hit the line.
“There was a hush while the crowd waited for the film of the finish to go down from the camera tower to the judge’s box,” The Age reported the next day. “Then came a deafening roar from all parts of the course with the official announcement that the judge, Stanley Shannon, had signalled a triple dead heat for first.”
The three horses would face each other again in the following Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. None could manage a place.
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It was so close not even the jockeys could tell you who won when dominant frontrunner Might And Power and the fast-finishing Doriemus both stretched for the finishing post in the 1997 Melbourne Cup.