How many horses have won the Melbourne Cup more than once?

Known locally as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is run over 3,200 metres, or just shy of two miles in imperial measurements, at Flemington Racecourse, on the banks of the Maribyrnong River in Melbourne, Victoria, on the first Tuesday in November. The race was established in 1861 by the Victorian Turf Club, which, three years later, merged with the competing Victorian Turf Club to form the modern body, the Victoria Racing Club. Nowadays, the Melbourne Cup, which boasts A$8 million in total prize money – of which A$4.4 million goes to the winner – has the distinction of being the most valuable handicap on the whole.

Generally speaking, multiple winners of the Melboure Cup have been few and far between, although the inaugural winner, Archer, owned and trained by Etienne de Mestre and ridden by John Cutts, went on to become the first dual winner. Indeed, the son of William Tell won by six lengths in 1861 and eight in 1862 and could, conceivably, have become the first triple winner but for being refused entry in 1863, after connections overlooked the deadline for acceptance.

As it was, the next horse to win the Melbourne Cup more than once was Peter Pan, trained by Frank McGrath Snr., who was successful as a three-year-old in 1932 and as a five-year-old in 1934, thereby becoming the first multiple, but non-consecutive, winner. Thereafter, Rain Lover (1968, 1969) and Think Big (1974, 1975) recorded back-to-back victories and Makybe Diva (2003, 2004, 2005) became the first horse to win the Cup three times.