1870 Melbourne Cup

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. 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. 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. In the end, Nimblefoot wore the colours of Craig's son-in-law Thomas Bailey and Slack made a payment of £500 to Walter Craig's widow following Nimblefoot's win.

Winning jockey Johnny Day was just 14 years old, while Hiram Howard the jockey of third-placed Valentine was just 13 years old.

A total of 56 runners were accepted for the race. From a field of 30 horses, 28 runners made their way to the start of the Melbourne Cup following the scratchings of Cortherstone and Sheet Anchor. In sunny conditions, three runners (Lapdog, Warrior and Trump Card) shared favouritism. Praetor had the best start of the runners, but it would be Barbelle that led the field at the first turn. 1868 winner Glencoe joined the leader down the back straight a few lengths in front of the head of the field. As the halfway post, Lapdog took the lead ahead of Nimblefoot, with Lapdog taking a slender lead into the Flemington straight. It was a two-horse race down the straight and both horses went stride for stride to the final post. Spectators thought the two horses might have dead-heat for first, but the judge awarded the victory to Nimblefoot. The heavyweight horses didn't feature in the finish, although Tim Whiffler did finish in the top ten.

The winning time of 3:37.0 was at the time the fastest winning time in the race's history, while Nimblefoot became the first Tasmanian-bred horse to win the race.

Full results This is the list of placegetters for the 1870 Melbourne Cup.

PlaceHorseAgeGenderJockeyWeightTrainerOwnerOddsMargin1Nimblefoot 7y gJohnny Day William LangThomas Bailey12/1½ head2Lapdog 6y gJames Wilson Jr James WilsonMr J. Gilbert5/1 4 lengths3Valentine 5y gHiram Howard Henry Bowler20/14Croydon4y hT. Brown Mr W. Winch8/15Tim Whiffler8y hGeorge Donnelly Etienne de Mestre Etienne de Mestre6/16Flying Dutchman5y hBell Mr J. Haimes25/17Duke of MontroseAged hRowe Mr J. Brown25/18Glencoe6y hWilliam Lang William LangThomas Bailey8/19StropAged gJoe Carter William Field25/1Warrior7y gJoe Morrison Robert Standish SeviorAustin Saqui5/1 Praetor5y hWilliam Yeomans Mr P. Lewis25/1Barbelle5y mBrickwood Colley Edward Lee25/1The Earl5y hCharles Stanley John Tait33/1MilesianAged gThomas Enderson John Cleeland50/1The Monk6y hJ. Adderley Mr F. Henty20/1Barbarian4y hSamuel Davis Edward Lee12/1Sir William5y hJ. Kean Andrew Town25/1The Pearl4y hH. Lewis John Tait33/1Trump Card5y hS. Atkins Mr G. Adams5/1 Sir JohnAged hC. Greene Jack Chaaffe14/1Partisan4y hLemon Edward Lee100/1Mischief5y mBourke James WilsonJames Wilson50/1Freetrader6y gSwales Mr L. Sararan100/1Palmerston6y gWilliam Enderson Sam Waldock100/1Paddy's LandAged hJ. Sherringham Mr H. Gamble100/1Huntsman5y gW. Brown Mr H. Kett100/1Saladin6y gEwart Mr J.E. Crook25/1Patience6y mChalker Mr J.R. Harper100/1CotherstoneAged h Mr A. DouglassSheet Anchor6y h Mr S. ThompsonFarmer's Daughter6y m Mr H. Hepburn

Prizemoney First prize £1210, second prize £50, third prize £20.

1870 Melbourne Cup

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