The Australian Cup is a middle-distance WFA race at Flemington, considered to be the Melbourne Autumn Carnival equivalent of the Cox Plate. The 2,000 metre distance attracts a mix of miler to middle distance horses, as well as genuine stayers who are hoping for a genuine run race.
The Australian Cup wasn't always contested over a distance of 2000 metres. It was inaugurated back in 1863, making it one of Australia's oldest races that is still run today. This initial running, all the way through to the 1942 edition, was over a distance of two and a quarter miles, or 3627 metres.
Therefore, the Australian Cup was longer than the 3,200 metres of the Melbourne Cup. However, in 1943 the distance was shortened, and has only continued coming down ever since. Since 1973, the race has remained at the 2,000 metre distance range.
In a race with such a long history, it will come as no surprise that plenty of greats of Australian horse racing have triumphed, including Leilani, Vo Rogue and Makybe Diva.
But if one name will be forever intertwined with the Australian Cup it's that of Bart Cummings. Bart won the race an incredible 13 times, his first hurrah coming in 1968, and the last coming 40 years later in 2008.
Another remarkable piece of history occurred in 1872. Saladin and Flying Dutchman dead heated. The race was run again to decide a winner, and the two horses dead heated a second time. On the third running, Saladin just had too much muscle and prevailed by half a neck.
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