The world’s richest handicap, the $10 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup – the race everyone wants to win. A race with an honour roll featuring champions and horses with humbler records. One which has become harder to decipher with the influx of visitors in recent years… we hope a look at the breeding backgrounds of each runner helps you with your selection on that famous First Tuesday in November!
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1. Al Riffa
Wootton Bassett – Love On My Mind (Galileo)
This classy fellow’s sire Wootton Bassett, a horse who worked his way up from a relatively small service fee to be a one of the stars of the global Coolmore operation, died just recently.
A Gr.1 winning miler at two, Wootton Bassett has sired stakes winners over a variety of distances including this horse as well as the recent Gr.2 Prix Chaudenay (3000m) Tennessee Stud.
Al Riffa’s dam is by Galileo out of a Darshaan mare so there is no lack of stamina sources close up in his pedigree.
Yet another one with that Nureyev/Sadler’s Wells combo, he is out of a full sister to Mizzou, a Gr.3 winner over two miles and second in the even longer Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
Al Riffa’s third dam My Emma won two Gr.1 races over 2400m and her half-brother Classic Cliche was another high-class stayer.
2. Buckaroo
Fastnet Rock – Roheryn (Galileo)
Another one by a high-class stallion to leave us recently, Buckaroo would provide his sire with yet another milestone following on from his W.S Cox Plate quinella – this horse beaten by fellow Fastnet Rock import Via Sistina.
They are two of the 14 Gr.1 winners with the Fastnet Rock/Galileo combination, one which provided last year’s third place-getter Okita Soushi.
Buckaroo’s dam won at Listed level over 2400m, placed up to 2800m. She has the distinction of having two runners in this year’s race – also dam of Middle Earth who has won up to 2816m.
Roheryn’s dam La Chunga won two Group races over 1200m, adding a bit of dash to a staying pedigree.
Buckaroo’s 1823-born ancestress Don Juan Mare has two Melbourne Cup winning descendants – Straight Draw (1957) and Ethereal (2001).
3. Arapaho
Lope de Vega – Alzubra (Dansili)
The sire of last year’s Caulfield Cup winner Duke De Sessa who skipped the Melbourne Cup, seemingly not running out the two miles in this year’s Sydney Cup, Lope de Vega has been a star stallion across the globe.
A Gr.1 winner up to 2100m, Lope de Vega has proven to be a versatile stallion in regards to distance range though this fellow – winner of this year’s Sydney Cup – is his only two-mile stakes winner.
Arapaho’s regally bred dam sire Dansili, a miler son of the great broodmare Hasili, sired a number of talented stayers including the Sydney Cup winner Grand Marshal and amongst his 152 stakes winners as a broodmare sire are a number of middle distance/staying types.
Arapaho’s stakes-winning dam won up to 2000m and along with Roheryn she has two runners in this race – also being dam of the Moonee Valley Cup runner-up Athabascan, winner of last year’s AJC St Leger over 2600m.
Alzubra’s dam and grandam are also stakes winners (milers); a classy family.
Arapaho has good male strength to his pedigree with crosses of Northern Dancer, Kenmare, Riverman, Blushing Groom, Nijinsky and Roberto; a combination of speed and stamina.
He is having a second go at the Cup, finishing 11th behind Gold Trip in 2022.
4. Vauban
Galiway – Waldfest (Hurricane Run)
Lining up for his third crack at this race, his first under the care of Waterhouse & Bott, he was strongly fancied last year and favourite the year before.
He is a son of the Galileo horse Galiway, a lightly raced horse who won in Listed company over 1800m. Amongst his 16 stakes winners are several nice staying types.
Bred on a 3×4 cross of Sadler’s Wells (with a strain of his 3/4 brother Nureyev), Vauban has Hurricane Run and Peintre Celebre as his first and second dam sires, both winners of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe… and this is the family of another Arc winner in Waldgeist.
His grandam’s half-brother Masked Marvel won the UK St Leger over 2800m but was down the track in the 2013 Melbourne Cup won by Fiorente.
There are plenty of quality staying types amongst Vauban’s relations including his German St Leger winning fourth dam Wurftaube, dam of the German Derby winner Waldpark.
5. Chevalier Rose
Deep Impact – Viane Rose (Sevres Rose)
One of the visitors attempting to become the first Japanese Cup winner since Delta Blues in 2006, he has the same grandsire – the great Sunday Silence – as that horse.
His sire Deep Impact is a proven high-class source of stamina and ten of his Gr.1 winners are, like this fellow, line-bred to Lyphard – including Contrail who won at Gr.1 level up to 3000m.
Chevalier Rose’s stakes-winning dam was successful up to 2000m, the distance range at which this family generally fares best though Chevalier Rose has won a Gr.2 contest over 3600m.
6. Presage Nocturne
Wootton Bassett – Kyurem (Verglas)
A second runner for his late sire (favourite Al Riffa the other – and he is grandsire of Athabascan), Presage Nocturne, already a winner over 3000m, is out of a stakes-placed miler by the sprinter Verglas.
His dam is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Simenon who loved long trips, running second to the Queen’s horse Estimate in the Ascot Gold Cup as well as finishing a close-up fourth in the 2013 Melbourne Cup won by Fiorente.
And his dam’s half-sister Vivacious Vivienne also stuck on well, that Gr.3 placegetter being competitive up to 2800m.
There is more stamina in the next generation of this grey’s pedigree with his grandam being a full sister to the 2600m winner Epistolaire and a half to the 3000m winner Epitre.
Presage Nocturne, who boasts a 6×5 cross of the terrific mare Pocahontas, seeks to become the second Melbourne Cup winning descendant of the legendary mare Pretty Polly – ancestress of the 1993 winner Vintage Crop.
Interestingly Pretty Polly is also ancestress of Wootton Bassett’s sire Iffraaj.
7. Middle Earth
Roaring Lion – Roheryn (Galileo)
Buckaroo’s half-brother is by the late Roaring Lion, a popular galloper whose eight wins from 13 starts included four Gr.1 races in a row – between a mile and 2000m.
His progeny have generally been a bit more dour than him, faring best over middle distances with this horse, one of Roaring Lion’s eight stakes winners from his only crop, proven up to 2816m.
The closest duplication in Middle Earth’s pedigree is a 4×3 cross of Sadler’s Wells.
1823-born ancestress Don Juan Mare has two Melbourne Cup winning descendants – Straight Draw (1957) and Ethereal (2001).
8. Meydaan
Frankel – Nezwaah (Dubawi)
Superstar Frankel has shown that he can do just about anything and it seems just a matter of time that he adds a Melbourne Cup to his list of achievements.
Bred on the highly successful Frankel/Dubawi combination that has produced six Gr.1 winners and another 14 stakes winners, Meydaan carries a cross of Rainbow Quest; a nice stamina source.
Meydaan’s Gr.1 winning dam Nezwaah was at her best over 2000m whilst her dam Ferdoos won at Listed level over a little longer than that. And that mare’s grandam Hawait Al Barr won a Listed race over 3200m.
Close relation Brusco won an Italian Listed race over 3000m so there is no lack of stamina here and Meydaan’s 1853-born English 1000 Guineas winning ancestress Manganese is ancestress of the 2011 Cup winner Dunaden.
9. Absurde
Fastnet Rock – Incroyable (Singspiel)
One of three representatives of his late sire, Absurde was a solid seventh without the best of luck last year.
His stakes-placed dam won over 2100m as did her stakes-placed daughter Impertinente by Redoute’s Choice.
Absurde has relations who have won over a variety of distances and there is a Caulfield Cup winner amongst them – Tawqeet who finished unplaced in the two Melbourne Cups he contested.
Absurde’s globetrotting dam sire Singspiel won multiple Gr.1 races over 2400m and his daughters have produced horses like that.
Ancestress of this family is the high-class broodmare Marguerite whose sprinting son Fighting Fox is the great-grandsire of Danzig’s dam – Danzig being Fastnet Rock’s grandsire.
10. Flatten The Curve
Zarak – Lailoma (Teofilo)
Dubawi’s son Zarak is a 2400m Gr.1 winner and he is doing a good job siring horses with his own staying capabilities.
Flatten The Curve’s dam sire Teofilo (grandsire of Half Yours) sired three Melbourne Cup winners (Cross Counter, Twilight Payment and Without A Fight) whilst his second dam sire Dalakhani is also a proven source of stamina.
His best relations are mainly stayers and he is a member of the same prolific Gondolette family as Sir Tristram who has had such a good influence on this race, one won in 1997 by its brilliant member Might And Power.
Meanwhile his sire Zarak is a descendant of another influential mare in Mumtaz Mahal whose descendants Verry Elleegant and Vow And Declare are Cup winners of recent times.
11. Land Legend
Galileo – Landikusic (Dansili)
A second Cup runner, Arapaho the other, out of a Dansili mare and one of several with Galileo genes, he already has a couple of Sydney staying features on his record; last year’s Metropolitan Handicap and the 2023 St Leger.
And he was pretty good in last year’s Cup, just racing too keenly.
His dam has produced three stakes winners; a couple of sprinters and the 2019 Cup contestant Rostropovich (injured/last) who won up to 2400m.
There are all sorts of horses in this family, including a few stayers including the UK St Leger runner-up Berkshire Rocco who won up to 3300m and the Gr.1 2400m horse Broome and Port Lonsdale who saluted up to 2715m.
Land Legend’s 1918-born ancestress Etoile Filante is the fifth dam of the 1986 Melbourne Cup winner At Talaq.
12. Smokin’ Romans
Ghibellines – Inferno (Yamanin Vital)
Having his second Cup crack having run a solid seventh three years ago behind Gold Trip, he is by a Shamardal stallion who won a Gr.2 1200m (Todman Stakes) at two but who has proven to sire slower-maturing types wanting more ground.
Such as this year’s Brisbane Cup (also two miles) winner who is bred on the same Ghibellines/Sir Tristram cross as this horse.
Smokin’ Romans’ dam Inferno won a couple of Gr.3 races over 2000m, also winning over 2200m whilst her sire Yamanin Vital is a known source of stamina; another of his runners as a broodmare sire being the Auckland Cup (yet another two miler) winner Roger That.
Inferno’s third dam Firefly won at Gr.2 level over 2400m whilst Smokin’ Romans’ strain of Noble Bijou (his third dam sire) also provides for stamina.
Smokin’ Roman’s 1918-born multiple stakes-winning ancestress Limelight is the fourth dam of the 1966 Cup hero Galilee.
13. Changingoftheguard
Galileo – Lady Lara (Excellent Art)
The second runner for his sire, Land Legend the other, he is another with Nureyev genes complementing the Sadler’s Wells strain; bred on a 4×6 cross of the aptly named matriarch Special.
His dam Lady Lara is a dual Group-winning sprinter/miler whose other stakes-winning son Chantez is a juvenile stakes winner.
This is a family of mainly sprinter/milers though it did produce Mahler who ran third behind Efficient in the 2007 Cup.
His dam sire Excellent Art is yet another sprinter/miler type whose best local runner is the Stradbroke Handicap winner Under The Louvre. He has however had a few daughters produce nice staying types.
His 1811-born ancestress Prudence (dam of consecutive winners of the UK 2000 Guineas) is also ancestress of the 1887 winner Dunlop. Closer up in his dam line is the influential mare Malva, dam of the Epsom Derby winning prolific stallion Blenheim.
14. Half Yours
St Jean – La Gazelle (Desert King)
One of only 34 named foals by his sparingly used sire (he served five mares last spring), Half Yours (a Gr.3 winner over 2400m in New Zealand) has the right sire line for the race with St Jean’s sire Teofilo (himself a sprinter) well represented by three Melbourne Cup winners… Cross Counter (2018), Twilight Payment (2020) and Without A Fight (2023).
Half Yours is out of a mare by Desert King, Irish Derby winning sire of one of the Melbourne Cup’s most legendary champions – the three-time winner Makybe Diva.
Half Yours’ dam is a half-sister to Moudre, winner at Flemington of the Gr.3 Queen’s Cup over 2600m, a horse only just beaten by Americain in the Geelong Cup.
Half Yours is bred on a 4×3 cross of Danehill and a 5×5 cross of Bustino; the latter being a UK St Leger winner whose daughter Overplay produced the 1993 Cup winner Vintage Crop.
His pedigree also brings together the 3/4 brothers Sadler’s Wells and Nureyev noting that three Melbourne Cup winners – Verry Elleegant, Gold Trip and Twilight Payment – also boast that cross of the influential broodmare Special.
Digging into history for a bit of fun, Half Yours is a descendant of the 1852-born mare Jeu D’Esprit who has three Melbourne Cup winning descendants – Arsenal (1886), Artilleryman (1919) and Gurner’s Lane (1982).
15. More Felons
Churchill – Pivotalia (Pivotal)
A grandson of Galileo who is certainly making his influence felt in this race, he is by one of that stallion’s sprinter/miler sons in Churchill who has been siring stakes winners over a variety of distances.
Including the two miler Yashin and several nice winners between 2400m and 2800m.
More Felons is one of three stakes winners produced by the 2000m winner Pivotalia, one being a sprinter/miler whilst the other – Goolwa – won a Listed race over 2800m.
Pivotalia’s sire Pivotal was a short course specialist but his daughters have done a good job producing horses who can get over longer – of their 34 Gr.1 winners, 14 have won over 2400m and beyond.
Bred on a 3×4 cross of Sadler’s Wells (plus Nureyev – that Special influence again!) with duplications of the lovely mares Lalun and Somethingroyal thrown in.
16. Onesmoothoperator
Dialed In – Sueno D’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro)
This handsome fellow raced in similar ownership to the 2010 Cup winner Americain, has already won up to 3319m and he lines up for a second crack at this race having been right in the market without much luck last year.
A big race winner of the Florida Derby over 1800m, his sire Dialed In has been represented by 34 stakes winners, most of whom are sprinter/milers.
Onesmoothoperator’s dam, by the high-class middle distance horse Medaglia d’Oro, hails from a family of mostly sprinter/milers close up but there is depth to the pedigree further back – Onesmoothoperator hailing from the same prolific Simon’s Shoes family as Sadler’s Wells (grandsire of Medaglia d’Oro).
Ancestress of the 2013 Cup hero Fiorente, Simon’s Shoes is a descendant of Shepherdess – also ancestress of the 1894 winner Patron.
17. Furthur
Waldgeist – Danamight (Danetime)
He has pedigree links with fellow Cup contender Vauban who hails from the same family as this fellow’s multiple Gr.1 winning sire Waldgeist whose six stakes winners amongst his first 52 winners are all stayers.
Furthur’s closest stakes-winning relations Garrus and Persian Force, both out of his sisters, are sprinters as are his New Zealand-based relatives Darci’s Dream and Windborne. And there is more speed in the next generation, his third dam being the grandam of Choisir’s sire Danehill Dancer.
There aren’t many staying types in this fellow’s family and it looks like he has thrown more to his sire than his female line.
18. Parchment Party
Constitution – Life Well Lived (Tiznow)
A dual Gr.1 winner over 1800m, Parchment Party’s sire Constitution is a classy sire of 76 stakes winners, 13 of whom have been successful at the elite level with several who have been competitive around the 2400m distance range and up to 2800m.
His dam Life Well Lived, by the high-class 2000m horse Tiznow, has produced another two stakes winners including the Gr.1 miler American Patriot and she is grandam of the dual Gr.1 winning sprinter Patch Adams.
Her dam Well Dressed is a Listed-winning sprinter/miler whose son Well Armed – also by Tiznow – won the Dubai World Cup over 2000m.
This is a classy family with members winning over a variety of distances though there are no full-on stayers amongst them; though that is not really what you need for the Melbourne Cup.
Parchment Party is one of the 62 stakes winners bred on a Tapit/Relaunch cross, noting that the former’s fourth dam Foggy Note is the latter’s dam.
19. Athabascan
Almanzor – Alzubra (Dansili)
Arapaho’s half-brother is by the triple Gr.1 winner (up to 2000m) Almanzor, son of Al Riffa’s sire Wootton Bassett.
Almanzor has been represented by a number of nice staying types including the Sydney Cup winner Circle Of Fire (who defeated Athabascan in that race) who ran a handy sixth in last year’s Melbourne Cup.
He is also sire of the New Zealand Cup (also 3200m) winner Mehzebeen and the Auckland Cup winner Trav who also lines up on Tuesday.
Like his half-brother, Athabascan has solid male line-breeding with crosses of Danzig, Northern Dancer, Nureyev, Caro and Buckpasser.
20. Goodie Two Shoes
Fastnet Rock – Fits Like A Glove (Galileo)
Bred on the same highly successful cross as the W.S Cox Plate quinella including fellow Cup contestant Buckaroo, she is out of a 3/4 sister to the Epsom Derby winner Authorized who has sired nice staying types. And this is the family of another successful stallion who could pass on some stamina – Green Dancer.
There are large numbers of quality 2400m winners in this family and Goodie Two Shoes has further stamina through her second dam sire Saumarez, winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe over 2400m and the Grand Prix de Paris over 3000m.
Goodie Two Shoes’ 1856-born ancestress Little Agnes is also ancestress of the 2020 Cup winner Twilight Payment whilst her dam Miss Agnes is ancestress of Royal Supremacy.
21. River Of Stars
Sea The Stars – Amazone (Adlerflug)
There is no doubt that her sire, the champion Sea The Stars, can get a high-class stayer with the popular chestnut Stradivarius one fine example. And he has had local success with a two miler, the 2019 Sydney Cup winner Shraaoh.
River Of Stars is a half-sister to the Listed winner Apadanah who has stretched out to 2800m whilst her dam is out of the German Oaks winner Amarette whose Gr.3 daughter Amazona won over 2400m.
River Of Stars’ dam is German-bred and from a small annual foal crop that country has enjoyed considerable Melbourne Cup influence with Fiorente being by River Of Stars’ second dam sire Monsun as was Protectionist.
As was River Of Stars’ close relation Almandin, the 2016 Cup winner.
Further back (well, much further back!) this is also the family of the 1905 winner Blue Spec.
River Of Stars’ German Derby-winning dam sire Adlerflug has sired quality stayers and the seven stakes winners produced by his daughters are all at least 2000m horses including the two miler Alessio.
22. Royal Supremacy
Make Believe – Adalasia (Iffraaj)
The Metropolitan Handicap winner is by Make Believe, a Gr.1 sprinter/miler son of Dubawi. He can sire staying types such as the French Derby/Dubai Sheema Classic winner Mishriff and the classy mare Believe In Love whose best form was around the 2800m distance range.
Royal Supremacy’s dam won her maiden over 1400m at two and her other stakes winner Adelaise is a miler. Her German-based Group-winning half-brothers Fight Club and Flambo won up to 2000m.
Adalasia’s sire Iffraaj is a sprinting member of the Mr Prospector sire line. His daughters have produced runners capable over a variety of distances with this horse the most successful of the staying types.
Royal Supremacy hails from the same Miss Agnes family as fellow Cup contestant Goodie Two Shoes – the family of 2020 Cup winner Twilight Payment.
A duplication of Shirley Heights gives power to his pedigree as does a cross of the great mare Somethingroyal via her sons Sir Gaylord and Secretariat.
23. Torranzino
Tarzino – Goldilicious (Helmet)
Bred on a 4×4 cross of the great stamina influence Sadler’s Wells (supported by a strain of Nureyev – another nice stayer line-bred to Special), the Geelong Cup winner is by the VRC Derby winner Tarzino – grandson of Montjeu (a three-time Group 1 winner over 2400m) whose son Green Moon won the 2012 Melbourne Cup.
Tarzino’s dam, by the precocious Helmet (son of Gold Trip’s grandsire Exceed And Excel), is a half-sister to the Gr.3 winning sprinter/miler Showbeel out of a Galileo mare whose dam Showella won the South Australian Derby over 2500m, also running third behind Tie The Knot in the Tancred Stakes over 2400m.
Showella’s son Showcause is a two-mile winner, taking out the New Zealand Cup and also winning a couple of Gr.2 races over 2400m. And her grandson Zacada won the Avondale Gold Cup over 2400m.
Showella’s grandam is the NZ Hall Of Fame member Show Gate, twice a feature winner over 2400m.
Show Gate’s influential fifth dam Eulogy is also in the NZ Hall Of Fame and her descendant Red Handed won the 1967 Melbourne Cup.
24. Valiant King
Roaring Lion – Assembly (Candy Ride)
One of two Cup runners for his late sire – Middle Earth the other – he is out of a mare who won a couple of races over a mile by an undefeated stallion whose biggest success came over 2000m.
Assembly’s half-brother Seismic Wave could certainly run a trip, successful up to 3800m though not in stakes company.
This is a versatile family, one best known for the stallions it produces… Northern Dancer (of whom Valiant King boasts six strains), Danehill, Halo and Machiavellian.
In addition to the duplication of his own seventh dam Natalma (Northern Dancer’s dam), Valiant King boasts a cross of Somethingroyal – dam of Sir Gaylord and Secretariat. And she is one of the great modern-day line-breeding forces.
Valiant King’s 1817-born ancestress Emma has the 1874 Melbourne Cup winner Haricot as a descendant.
