Top 5 Australian Cup Winners

The Australian Cup (2000m) is one of the highlights of the Melbourne autumn and has been won by some champion gallopers over the years. See who made our list of top 5 Australian Cup winners since 2000.

In modern times, the feature race has been taken out by some outstanding gallopers.

Top 5 Australian Cup winners.

1. MAKYBE DIVA (2005)

Makybe Diva won the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on a staggering three occasions and what is sometimes overlooked is her efforts across the board in 2005 when she turned into a serious weight-for-age horse. The Lee Freedman mare was just about unbeatable in anything she contested that year and won the Australian Cup in the autumn before a Sydney campaign that saw her take out a stirring edition of the Tancred Stakes (2400m) ahead of Grand Armee. She returned in the spring to win the Memsie Stakes (1400m), Turnbull Stakes (2000m) and Cox Plate (2040m) as a seven-year-old before bowing out with a third Cup win.

2. NORTHERLY (2001, 2003)

While he had one Group 1 win to his credit after taking out the Railway Stakes (1600m) late in 2000, it was the Australian Cup of 2001 where Northerly really signalled what was ahead with a three length romp from Hit The Roof. The fighting tiger missed out in this race in 2002 behind Old Comrade but smashed them by four lengths in 2003. That followed a spring that saw him claim the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Cox Plate (2040m) in successive starts.

3. LONHRO (2004)

One of the most memorable races in modern times was the 2004 Australian Cup as the fan favourite lined up for his last race in Melbourne. Sent out a $1.60 favourite, the champ looked in desperate trouble with 200m to go but was able to overcome traffic and lift at the right moment to knock over Delzao right on the line. The win was one of 26 for Lonhro, who picked up 11 Group 1 races in total.

4. ZIPPING (2010)

Zipping was one of the most consistent horses on the Australian racing scene from the time he first stepped out in 2004 until his retirement in 2011. The Australian Cup was only one of two Group 1 wins for the Lloyd Williams galloper with the other coming in the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) that year. But he was placed in two Cox Plates and was unlucky in a couple of Melbourne Cup (3200m) races, while he was a four time winner of The Sandown Classic (2400m), which is now known as The Zipping Classic.

5. FIORENTE (2014)

You could make a case for a couple of others in this list with Harlem winning on two occasions, while Shocking is a Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner that backed up a few months later to take out the Australian Cup. But Fiorente gets the nod and after running 3rd in the 2013 Cox Plate, he was able to take out the Melbourne Cup that year ahead of Red Cadeaux before claiming his second Group 1 race a few months later in the Australian Cup.

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