1870 Melbourne Cup

1870 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
LocationFlemington Racecourse
Date10 November 1870
Distance2 miles
Winning horseNimblefoot
Winning time3:37.0
Final odds12/1
JockeyJohn Day
TrainerWilliam Lang
OwnerThomas Bailey
SurfaceTurf
Attendance30,000

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4][5]

Winning jockey Johnny Day was just 14 years old,[6] while Hiram Howard the jockey of third-placed Valentine was just 13 years old.[7]

A total of 56 runners were accepted for the race.[8] 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.[9] In sunny conditions,[10] three runners (Lapdog, Warrior and Trump Card) shared favouritism.[10] 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.[9] The heavyweight horses didn't feature in the finish, although Tim Whiffler did finish in the top ten.[10]

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.[10]

Full results

This is the list of placegetters for the 1870 Melbourne Cup.[11][12][13][14][15][9][16]


Place Horse Age
Gender 		Jockey Weight Trainer Owner Odds Margin
1 Nimblefoot 7y g Johnny Day 6 st 3 lb (39.5 kg) William Lang Thomas Bailey[a] 12/1 ½ head
2 Lapdog 6y g James Wilson Jr 7 st 0 lb (44.5 kg) James Wilson Mr J. Gilbert 5/1 eq. fav. 4 lengths
3 Valentine 5y g Hiram Howard 6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg) Henry Bowler 20/1
4 Croydon 4y h T. Brown 7 st 10 lb (49.0 kg) Mr W. Winch 8/1
5 Tim Whiffler 8y h George Donnelly 10 st 0 lb (63.5 kg) Etienne de Mestre Etienne de Mestre 6/1
6 Flying Dutchman 5y h Bell 7 st 0 lb (44.5 kg) Mr J. Haimes 25/1
7 Duke of Montrose Aged h Rowe 6 st 12.5 lb (43.8 kg)[b] Mr J. Brown 25/1
8 Glencoe 6y h William Lang 9 st 12 lb (62.6 kg) William Lang Thomas Bailey 8/1
9 Strop Aged g Joe Carter 7 st 12 lb (49.9 kg) William Field 25/1
N/a Warrior 7y g Joe Morrison 9 st 0 lb (57.2 kg) Robert Standish Sevior Austin Saqui 5/1 eq. fav.
N/a Praetor 5y h William Yeomans 8 st 4 lb (52.6 kg) Mr P. Lewis 25/1
N/a Barbelle 5y m Brickwood Colley 8 st 4 lb (52.6 kg) Edward Lee 25/1
N/a The Earl 5y h Charles Stanley 8 st 0 lb (50.8 kg) John Tait 33/1
N/a Milesian Aged g Thomas Enderson 7 st 12 lb (49.9 kg) John Cleeland 50/1
N/a The Monk 6y h J. Adderley 7 st 12 lb (49.9 kg) Mr F. Henty 20/1
N/a Barbarian 4y h Samuel Davis 7 st 10 lb (49.0 kg) Edward Lee 12/1
N/a Sir William 5y h J. Kean 7 st 11 lb (49.4 kg)[c] Andrew Town 25/1
N/a The Pearl 4y h H. Lewis 7 st 4 lb (46.3 kg) John Tait 33/1
N/a Trump Card 5y h S. Atkins 7 st 5 lb (46.7 kg) Mr G. Adams 5/1 eq. fav.
N/a Sir John Aged h C. Greene 7 st 2 lb (45.4 kg) Jack Chaaffe 14/1
N/a Partisan 4y h Lemon 6 st 10 lb (42.6 kg) Edward Lee 100/1
N/a Mischief 5y m Bourke 6 st 5 lb (40.4 kg) James Wilson James Wilson 50/1
N/a Freetrader 6y g Swales 6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg) Mr L. Sararan 100/1
N/a Palmerston 6y g William Enderson 6 st 4 lb (39.9 kg)[d] Sam Waldock 100/1
N/a Paddy's Land Aged h J. Sherringham 6 st 0 lb (38.1 kg) Mr H. Gamble 100/1
N/a Huntsman 5y g W. Brown 6 st 0 lb (38.1 kg) Mr H. Kett 100/1
N/a Saladin 6y g Ewart 5 st 10 lb (36.3 kg) Mr J.E. Crook 25/1
N/a Patience 6y m Chalker 5 st 7 lb (34.9 kg) Mr J.R. Harper 100/1
SCR Cotherstone Aged h N/a 6 st 2 lb (39.0 kg) N/a Mr A. Douglass N/a
SCR Sheet Anchor 6y h N/a 5 st 12 lb (37.2 kg) N/a Mr S. Thompson N/a
SCR Farmer's Daugher 6y m N/a 6 st 5 lb (40.4 kg) N/a Mr H. Hepburn N/a

Prizemoney

First prize £1210, second prize £50, third prize £20.[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ As representative of the estate of Walter Craig
  2. ^ Was supposed to carry 6st 9lb
  3. ^ Was supposed to carry 7st 9lb
  4. ^ Was supposed to carry 6st 2lb

References

  1. ^ O'Reilly, Paddy (2016). "Nimblefoot (1870)". Facts, Stats & Trivia of The Melbourne Cup. Melbourne: New Holland Publishers Pty Ltd. pp. 22–23. ISBN 9781742579054.
  2. ^ "The News of the Day". The Age. No. 4991. Victoria, Australia. 9 November 1870. p. 3. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Nimblefoot Dream a Pure Invention". Sporting Globe. No. 1280. Victoria, Australia. 5 November 1934. p. 8. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Laherty has found training more profitable than buckjumpers". The Weekly Times. Melbourne, Victoria. 22 April 1942. p. 31. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  5. ^ "The Melbourne Cup". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 26 October 1907. p. 2. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  6. ^ Fraser, Morag (4 August 2022). "He won the Melbourne Cup at 14, then vanished. Who was Johnny Day?". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  7. ^ "Oldest Ex-Jockey Living? Riders in Early Days". The Advertiser. Adelaide, South Australia. 27 November 1936. p. 8. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  8. ^ "Victoria Racing Club - Spring Meeting". The Evening Journal. Adelaide, South Australia. 20 August 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  9. ^ a b c "THE VRC Spring Meeting - The Cup Day". The Argus. Melbourne, Victoria. 11 November 1870. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d "Cup Day - Thursday No. 10". The Australasian. Melbourne, Victoria. 12 November 1870. p. 618. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  11. ^ "1861 to 1870 Melbourne Cup Winners". races com au. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  12. ^ Cavanough, Maurice (1978). The Melbourne Cup (8 ed.). p. 445. ISBN 0727004859.
  13. ^ a b "1869 Melbourne Cup MillersGuide". millersguide.identika.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  14. ^ "Melbourne Cup Winners - 1861-1880". Victoria Racing Club. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  15. ^ "THE VRC Spring Meeting - The Cup Day". The Argus. Melbourne, Victoria. 10 November 1870. p. 5. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  16. ^ Reubertstein. The History of the Melbourne Cup from 1861 to 1894 (1895 ed.). Melbourne, Australia: James J. Miller. pp. 19–20.


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