1877 Melbourne Cup

The 1877 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 6 November 1877.

This year was the seventeenth running of the Melbourne Cup. Although the track was slippery and muddy, the race time of 3:33.50 was a new record.

Entries and odds

Following its win in the 1877 Melbourne Stakes on the Saturday before the Melbourne Cup, Robinson Crusoe the colt that survived of the SS City of Melbourne shipwreck the previous year had firmed in pre-race betting. Other runners that were highly favoured included The Painter, Aldinga and Tom Kirk. 1874 Melbourne Cup winner Haricot, now owned by William Samuel Cox, wasn't favoured to be among the leading pack, whereas The King was the more likely winner from Cox's horses. Of the lightly-weighted runners, Pluto and Amendment were fancied, as was the winner of the 1877 AJC Derby Woodlands. Woodlands had been prepared with the Melbourne Cup in mind, skipping the Victoria Derby. Owned by bookmaker Joe Silberberg, Woodlands was the subject of a bungled attempt to nobble the horse in the days before the race, with assailants throwing glass and oyster shells onto the colt's stable. Woodlands emerged unscathed from the attack with only minor scratches.

Chester, the Victoria Derby winner on the Saturday before the Melbourne Cup in wet conditions, was said to be a strong chance of repeating the performance of Briseis by winning the Melbourne Cup, but would not start the race as favourite, with plenty of money behind James Wilson's trained horse Savanaka to be ridden by Peter St Albans. Savanaka had been kept out of many of the lead-up races, with Wilson trying to win his third Melbourne Cup, although Savanaka was owned by VRC committee member and steward Herbert Power.

The race In the first truly wet Melbourne Cup race, Etienne de Mestre sent out Chester without full horseshoe plates, instead electing just to have just a few nails hammered into the horse's hooves to prevent the colt from slipping. There were 33 runners that started the race, following the withdrawal of a number of runners. The rain eased just before the running of the race, with Fisherman rushing to the front. Both Robinson Crusoe and Amendment had been left at the start losing ground on the field. Fisherman had set a fast pace and joining it in the lead was Waxy. 1875 Melbourne Cup winner Wollomai joined the lead bunch down the riverside straight with Tom Kirk. Just after the far turn, The King slipped and fell, while Glemormiston joined the leaders as Fisherman started to fall back. It was at this point that Waxy fell and failed to finish, with the jockey injured and taken to hospital. The fall of Waxy severely interfered with Savanaka who lost a lot of ground behind what was a large leading pack.

As the field turned for home, Glenormiston was leading just in front of Chester and The Vagabond. Glenormiston faded down the Flemington straight, leaving Chester to jump well clear of The Vagabond. Chester won in a close finish after jockey Paddy Piggott had eased off thinking the race won. Savanaka sprinted down the straight to almost catch the winner, recovering from the earlier interference to almost give Wilson and St Albans the win. The Vagabond came home third, with Tom Kirk beating home Glenormiston for fourth.

For the winning jockey, it was Piggott's second Melbourne Cup win following his win on board Haricot in 1874, while for trainer Etienne de Mestre, it was his fourth win in the race, equalling John Tait's record.

Newspaper The Australasian criticised James Wilson's stable for the secrecy behind the preparation of Savanaka commenting "Certain we are that with the general public, there is a feeling of intense satisfaction that the clever party at St Albans, whose deeds are dark and ways mysterious, got bowled over for once and that de Mestre won the Cup for a man who races for sport, not money."

Bookmaker Joe Thompson and others in the ring paid out big sums on Chester's win, including £10,000 to James White the owner of the winner.

Attendance was down on the previous year, mostly due to the unfavourable weather conditions. Estimates ranged from 80,000 to 90,000 people were at the racecourse which turned into something of a quagmire.

Full results This is the list of placegetters for the 1877 Melbourne Cup.

PlaceHorseAgeGenderJockeyWeightTrainerOwnerOddsMargin1Chester3y cPaddy Piggott Etienne de MestreJames White5/1 ½ head2Savanaka3y cPeter St Albans James WilsonHerbert Power4/1 3 lengths3The Vagabond (late Wizard)4y hCharles Ivemy George W. Petty16/14Tom Kirk6y gJ. Mascall Ike Carslake Mr C. James16/15Glenormiston3y cGeorge Williams William Filgate William Filgate16/16Woodlands3y cConnor Joe Cook Joe J. Silberberg8/17Pluto3y cWilliamson William Lang Mr Phillips16/18Amendment3y cJ. Williams John Tait John Tait15/19Lockleys3y cDonald Nicholson Tom Jordan Tom Jordan50/110Pride Of The Hills4y hJ. Jenkins Mr R.T. Reid25/111Wollomai8y hRobert Batty John Cleeland20/112Royalty3y cBraithwaite Mr C. Edwards50/113The Painter5y hSam Davis Charles Brown Fisher12/114Robinson Crusoe4y hJoe Morrison Charles Brown Fisher12/1Imperial8y gD. Sullivan William Samuel Cox50/1Janitor5y hBrickwood Colley John Mayo100/1Newminster4y hWilliam Yeomans Andrew Chirnside50/1KingfisherAged gHuxley Mr W.S. Hill33/1Aldinga4y hTom Hales William E. Dakin Samuel Gardiner8/1Haricot7y gMcInnes Ike Carslake William Samuel Cox14/1Coquette6y mHarrison Mr W. Mackenzie100/1Filibuster4y hWilliam Murphy Eli Jellett20/1Artful Joe5y gJames Wilson Jr James WilsonJames Wilson 20/1Fisherman5y hPower Mr Grant100/1Ralph Leigh4y hMcLachlan James Bathe33/1Device3y fJohn Kilduff Mr Rounsevell100/1The Diver7y hWalter Higginbotham Charles Madden Lloyd25/1Lord Harry6y gNolan Mr A. Smith100/1Peerless4y mKing Stephen Mahon Stephen Mahon25/1Waterford3y cT. Aspinall Mr H.J. Bowler33/1Adelaide4y mW. Hughes Mr H. Phillips33/1FellWaxy5y hJerrard Mr Henty100/1FellThe King6y gHeywood William Samuel Cox20/1 Irish Stew 5y g Mr W. Dargin Meteor 5y h Mr Paterson Salisbury 3y c Mr Drewett Devilshoof 3y c Joe Thompson Idalia 3y f James WilsonJames Wilson Hotspur 3y c Mr Holmes Explosion 3y c James White

Prizemoney First prize £1870, second prize £50, third prize £20.

1877 Melbourne Cup

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