1870 Melbourne Cup Explained

1870 Melbourne Cup
Horse Race:Melbourne Cup
Location:Flemington Racecourse
Date:10 Nov 1870
Distance:2 miles
Winning Horse:Nimblefoot
Winning Time:3:37.0
Final Odds:12/1
Winning Jockey:John Day
Winning Trainer:W. Lang
Surface:Turf
Attendance:30,000
Previous:1869
Next:1871

The 1870 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 10 November 1870. This year was the tenth running of the Melbourne Cup. The entire carnival was pushed back a week due to a waterlogged track.

The race became a big part of Melbourne Cup folklore. Ballarat publican Walter Craig bought Nimblefoot from Melbourne bookmaker Joe Thompson. The story goes that several months before the 1870 race Craig dreams of a horse in his colours winning the race but with its jockey wearing a black arm band, a sign of mourning. Craig told friends about this and was sure that Nimblefoot would win, but he would not live to see the 12/1 shot's tense battle with Lapdog.[1] William Craig died on the morning of 17 August from gout and pneumonia. The story of his dream first appeared three months later, in the Bendigo Independent and was recounted in The Age newspaper the day before the Cup.[2] In the story Craig saw a horse, whose jockey was wearing his colours and a black armband, win the Cup.Samuel Griffiths, handicapper and turf historian, scotched the story as having been fabricated by the bookmaker Joseph Bragge "Leviathan" Slack.[3]

The winning time of 3:37.0 was at the time the fastest winning time in the race's history.[4] This is the list of placegetters for the 1870 Melbourne Cup.[5]

PlaceNameJockeyTrainer
1NimblefootJohn DayW. Lang
2LapdogJ. Wilson Jr
3Valentine H. Howard

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: O'Reilly , Paddy . Nimblefoot (1870). Facts, Stats & Trivia of The Melbourne Cup. 2016. New Holland Publishers Pty Ltd. Melbourne. 22–23. 9781742579054.
  2. News: The News of the Day . . 4991 . Victoria, Australia . 9 November 1870 . 30 May 2023 . 3 . National Library of Australia . 4 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240504052700/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/189331845 . live .
  3. News: Nimblefoot Dream a Pure Invention . . 1280 . Victoria, Australia . 5 November 1934 . 29 May 2023 . 8 . National Library of Australia . 4 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240504052716/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/183743699 . live .
  4. Web site: 1867 Melbourne Cup Millers Guide . millersgudie.identika.com.au . 16 September 2021 . 16 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210916071215/http://millersguide.identika.com.au/1867-melbourne-cup/ . live .
  5. Web site: 1861 to 1870 Melbourne Cup Winners . races com au . 16 September 2021 . 16 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210916071158/http://www.races.com.au/melbourne-cup/melbourne-cup-history/past-winners/1861-to-1870-melbourne-cup/#1867 . live .