A Century of National Yearling Sales Success: Melbourne Cup

There are many great events and coveted prizes on the Australian racing calendar, but no others capture attention quite like the Melbourne Cup (3200m).

The Cup has been run every year since 1861 and is among Australia’s most iconic traditions. Flemington becomes the centre of attention on the first Tuesday of every November, with the ‘race that stops a nation’ taking place in front of an on-course crowd of 100,000 and a television audience in the millions.

That phrase could be extended to ‘the race that stops two nations’, with New Zealand similarly swept up in the magic of the Melbourne Cup every November. Part of that enduring popularity stems from the extraordinary success New Zealand has enjoyed in the great race, including two dozen winners sourced from our National Yearling Sales.

Less than three months out from NZB’s big celebration to mark 100 years of the National Yearling Sales Series, and with the 2025 Melbourne Cup Carnival underway, now is an ideal time to look back at some of the most famous Melbourne Cup-winning graduates of New Zealand’s National Yearling Sale.

 

1930: PHAR LAP

The Melbourne Cup and the New Zealand National Yearling Sale had one of their greatest flagbearers when Phar Lap (NZ) (Night Raid) raced into Australasian sporting folklore in 1930.

Popularly known as ‘Big Red’ and ‘The Red Terror’, and with a name that translates to ‘sky flash’, Phar Lap was born near Timaru in New Zealand’s South Island and was offered at Trentham in 1928, where he was bought for 160 guineas.

The legendary chestnut had 51 starts for 37 wins and five placings. He won 32 of his last 35 races.

Phar Lap won 13 times in his three-year-old season, including the Australian Derby (2400m), VRC Derby (2500m), Rosehill Guineas (1800m), VRC St Leger (2800m), Chipping Norton Stakes (2000m) and AJC St Leger (2800m). He also ran third in that year’s Melbourne Cup.

He went on to win 14 of his 16 starts as a four-year-old in 1930-31 including his famous Melbourne Cup triumph under a weight of 9 stone, 12 ounces – the equivalent of 62.5kg.

Incredibly, Phar Lap won races on all four days of the 1930 Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington – the Melbourne Stakes (2000m) on Saturday November 1, the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday November 4, the Linlithgow Stakes (1600m) on Thursday October 6 and the CB Fisher Plate (2400m) on Saturday November 8.

Phar Lap’s unstoppable four-year-old season also featured victories in the Cox Plate (1900m), the St George Stakes (1800m) and Futurity Stakes (1400m).

Phar Lap added a second Cox Plate as a five-year-old, along with the Underwood Stakes (1600m), Memsie Stakes (1800m), Craven Plate (2000m) and Melbourne Stakes, and he then ventured to Mexico and won the US$100,000 Agua Caliente Handicap (2000m) in what would be the final start of his extraordinary career.

Phar Lap was among the inaugural inductees into both the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Respected American publication the Blood-Horse magazine voted him the 22nd greatest racehorse of the 20th century.

 

1952: DALRAY

Greymouth owner Cyril Neville paid 460 guineas at the 1950 National Yearling Sale to purchase Dalray (NZ) (Balloch), who would go on to win 14 of his 27 starts in a top-class racing career.

His biggest win came with a standout performance carrying the equivalent of 61kg in the 1952 Melbourne Cup, but his other victories included the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m), Metropolitan Handicap (2600m), New Zealand Derby (2400m), Great Northern Derby (2400m), Trentham Stakes (2400m) and New Zealand St Leger (2800m).

 

1954: RISING FAST

A special piece of racing history belongs to Rising Fast (NZ) (Alonzo), who was bought for just 325 guineas from the 1950 National Yearling Sale.

In 1954 he became the first horse to complete the Spring Grand Slam – the Caulfield Cup (2400m), Cox Plate (2040m) and Melbourne Cup. He is still the only horse to win all three races in the same season.

In a glittering career that earned him a place in both the New Zealand and Australian Racing Hall of Fame, Rising Fast had 68 starts for 24 wins, 16 seconds and two thirds, earning £66,765 in stakes for owner Leicester Spring.

Rising Fast later successfully defended his Caulfield Cup title in 1955, and his other feature-race victories included the Caulfield Stakes (1800m), Turnbull Stakes (2400m), Feehan Stakes (1600m), Herbert Power Handicap (2400m), CF Orr Stakes (1600m), Blamey Stakes (2000m), Memsie Stakes (1800m), and two editions of the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) and Fisher Plate (2400m). He was beaten by a nose in his attempt at a second Melbourne Cup.

 

1962: EVEN STEVENS

A mere 400 guineas was enough to secure Even Stevens (NZ) (Fairs Fair) as a yearling in 1959, having caught the eye of trainer Archie McGregor’s wife Valerie. He went on to win 11 of his 28 starts, placing in another seven and earning £43,895.

He completed the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Melbourne Cup double in 1962, winning both races by four lengths in dominant performances. He was originally on the ballot for the Caulfield Cup and only made the field after scratchings.

Even Stevens also won the Avondale Cup (2200m) and Fisher Plate (2400m). He placed behind Stipulate (NZ) (Count Rendered) in the 1963 Auckland Cup (3200m).

Even Stevens was later gifted to the Queen Mother, but suffered an injury in training prior to his scheduled departure to the UK. He was retired to stand at stud in New Zealand, where his progeny included the Great Northern Derby (2400m) and New Zealand Derby (2400m) winner Master John (NZ).

In an additional connection to the National Yearling Sale, Even Stevens’ dam was also purchased from the sale in 1953.

 

1966: GALILEE

Bred and sold by Trelawney Stud, Galilee (NZ) (Alcimedes) was bought by legendary trainer Bart Cummings for 3750 guineas – just over half that year’s sale-topping price of 7000 guineas.

From a 36-race career, Galilee went on to record 18 wins and 10 placings and earned just under A$170,000 for Adelaide builder Max Bailey and his wife Venice. Among the 12 Melbourne Cup winners and countless other champions that he trained, Cummings always regarded Galilee as the very best of them all.

In the spring of 1966, Galilee finished second in the Epsom Handicap (1600m) before winning the Toorak Handicap (1600m) and Caulfield Cup (2400m). With a Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) placing in between times, he then went on to a two-length triumph in the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November.

He followed that up with an autumn campaign that featured victories in the Queen’s Plate (2000m), Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m), Autumn Stakes (2400m) and a six-length runaway under 60 kilograms in the Sydney Cup (3200m). He became the first horse to win the Caulfield, Melbourne and Sydney Cups in the same season.

 

1974 & 1975: THINK BIG

One of only five horses to win the Melbourne Cup more than once, Think Big (NZ) (Sobig) was bought by Bart Cummings for $10,000 from the 1972 National Yearling Sale.

Think Big raced in the familiar black and white checks of Malaysian businessman Dato Tan Chin Nam. He scored memorable Cup triumphs in 1974 and 1975, the latter at 33-to-one odds and under 58 kilograms.

 

1995: DORIEMUS

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup triumph by Doriemus (NZ) (Norman Pentaquad).

Master New Zealand trainer Jim Gibbs paid only $4,500 to buy Doriemus from the 1992 Claudelands Sale. After impressive victories in two of his first three starts, majority ownership in Doriemus was sold across the Tasman with Gibbs and his wife Ann retaining a 10% share.

Doriemus was transferred into the stable of Lee Freedman, for whom he won nine times from 41 starts and banked more than $3 million.

Doriemus burst on the scene in the spring of 1995, overpowering his rivals in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and then ploughing through rain-affected ground to romp home by four lengths in the Melbourne Cup.

A third Group One victory came the following autumn in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) under weight-for-age conditions at Randwick, followed by a second in the Doomben Cup (2040m).

Two seasons later, Doriemus made his mark again with second placings behind Might And Power (NZ) (Zabeel) in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. He missed out on a second Melbourne Cup triumph by a short half-head.

Doriemus spent his retirement as a popular resident at Living Legends, where he shared a paddock with another Melbourne Cup winner, Brew (NZ) (Sir Tristram).

“Doriemus was one of the great stayers of the modern era, in some ways underrated,” Freedman later said.

 

1998: JEZABEEL

Brian Jenkins paid $26,000 at Karaka in 1994 to buy Jezabeel (NZ) (Zabeel), who four years later would complete an unprecedented double in two of Australia’s iconic two-mile races.

Jezabeel was ridden by teenaged apprentice jockey Opie Bosson to victory in the Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day 1998. Later that year and on an even bigger stage at Flemington, Jezabeel headed an all-Zabeel quinella in the Melbourne Cup as she edged out fellow Kiwi mare Champagne (NZ) by a neck at the end of a stirring duel down the straight.

Jezabeel also placed in the Group One Underwood Stakes (1800m) in a 26-race career that produced seven wins, five placings and more than $2.2 million in stakes – almost 100 times her purchase price.

 

2007: EFFICIENT

Efficient (NZ) (Zabeel) was offered by Curraghmore Stud at the 2005 Premier Sale at Karaka, where Hall of Fame trainer Graeme Rogerson bought him for $220,000.

Efficient won the Group One Victoria Derby (2500m) in the spring of 2006, then returned a year later to triumph in the Melbourne Cup – the third winner of the race sired by legendary Cambridge Stud stallion Zabeel (NZ), matching the feat of his own sire Sir Tristram. Efficient also won the Group One Turnbull Stakes (2000m) in 2009.

From a 29-start career, Efficient recorded seven wins and a placing and earned A$4.78m – 25 times his purchase price.

 

2015: PRINCE OF PENZANCE

Best known for carrying Michelle Payne into the history books as the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, Prince Of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire) was offered by co-breeders Rich Hill Stud at the 2011 Premier Sale at Karaka. Bloodstock agent John Foote bought him for $50,000.

Prince Of Penzance had 29 starts for seven wins, nine placings and A$4.46m in stakes – over 100 times his purchase price.

 

2021: VERRY ELLEEGANT

One of the most memorable Kiwi triumphs in the Melbourne Cup in the last two decades came with Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) in 2021. She is the only mare to win the great race since Makybe Diva (Desert King) completed her famous treble in 2005 – in fact, no mares finished in the first three in between times.

The Melbourne Cup was one of 11 victories at Group One level for Verry Elleegant, whose other elite-level successes came in the Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m), Australian Oaks (2400m), Tancred Stakes (2400m), Winx Stakes (1400m), Turnbull Stakes (2000m), Caulfield Cup (2400m), George Main Stakes (1600m), Ranvet Stakes (2000m) and two editions of the Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m).

Bred by Don Goodwin, who retained ownership alongside the mare’s original trainer Nick Bishara and a trans-Tasman syndicate of other owners, Verry Elleegant had a total of 40 starts for 16 wins, 12 placings and A$14.8m in prize-money.

While she was not herself a Karaka graduate, Verry Elleegant’s dam Opulence (NZ) (Danroad) was offered at the 2011 National Broodmare Sale and was bought by Goodwin for $14,000.

 

2025 Melbourne Cup Contenders

Two Karaka graduates will attempt to add their names to that roll of honour in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.

• Torranzino (NZ) was offered by Phoenix Park in Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where trainer Paul Preusker purchased him for $75,000. He has had 33 starts for six wins, nine placings and A$1.09m in stakes, and he earned his way into the Melbourne Cup field with an authoritative win in the A$500,000 Group Three Geelong Cup (2400m) on October 23.
• Smokin’ Romans (NZ) was bought for just $52,500 from the draft of breeders White Robe Lodge in Book 1 of Karaka 2018. He has turned that into more than A$2.39m in prize-money, winning 11 of his 53 starts including the Group One Turnbull Stakes (2000m) in 2022 and last season’s Group Three Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) and Listed Warrnambool Cup (2350m).

 

The 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup will be run at Flemington on Tuesday, with a scheduled start time of 3pm (5pm NZT).