The week that was: observations from the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The 2024 Melbourne Cup carnival was one to remember with some outstanding performances from both horses and humans during the four-day racing gala.

The world class event attracted more than 285,000 people this year – 20,000 more than last year and the highest mark since 2018, surpassing all attendance records for an Australian race meet in 2024. Melbourne Cup Day itself saw the biggest attendance for the meeting since 2017 with just over 91,000 people in attendance.

With 26 stakes races across the four-day carnival, there were eight run at Group 1 level.

A massive spread of stallion success

In 2023, four stallions sired 11 winners of the 26 stakes races on offer, but in 2024, there was a much greater spread with the 26 stakes races won by 25 horses representing 24 stallions, with only Written Tycoon siring two individual winners, while Alabama Express’s Treasurethe Moment was the only horse to win two races over the four-day carnival.

The eight Group 1 races were won by the progeny of Alabama Express, Bullbars, Extreme Choice, Fastnet Rock, Invader, Snitzel, Savabeel, and American Pharoah (USA) who was the only non-Australian bred sire to feature at the top level of the carnival. For a couple of decades now, Australian sires have stepped up over shuttle sires, and this was again shown among the stallions who sired stakes winners this carnival.

Danehill (USA), however, the most influencial shuttle stallion of all time, continues to be massively influential with five of the eight Group 1 winners coming from his sireline. G1 Champions S. winner Via Sistina (Ire) is by Danehill’s son Fastnet Rock, while the Redoute’s Choice branch accounted for the four others including sons Snitzel and Alabama Express who sired G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Switzerland and G1 Crown Oaks winner Treasurethe Moment, respectively.

Snitzel’s son Invader sired G1 Champions Sprint winner Sunshine In Paris. Redoute’s Choice son Not A Single Doubt is responsible for Extreme Choice, who sired G1 Melbourne Cup winner Knights Choice.

Table: Stakes winners hailing from the Danehill (USA) sireline during the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnvial

Table: Stakes winners hailing from other sirelines during the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival

Written Tycoon’s pair of stakes winners

Written Tycoon was the only stallion to sire more than one winner across the four-day carnival, being G3 Maribyrnong Plate winner 2-year-old colt Tycoon Star and Listed The Amanda Elliot winner 3-year-old gelding Catoggio.

Written Tycoon also featured as the damsire of Listed Century S. winner Way To The Stars (Reward For Effort).

Tycoon Star could easily go the way of Written Tycoon’s two Group 1-winning juveniles from last season; Velocious, and Lady of Camelot. He is a speedy outcross to Danehill, and is building a strong empire of Group 1 winners such as proven sire and G1 Golden Slipper winner Capitalist. Written Tycoon is by Last Tycoon's (Ire) son Iglesia, while Tycoon Star brings in a Danehill line via second damsire Not A Single Doubt.

Catoggio is out of Conatus mare Palazzo Pubblico, and Conatus is a son of Danehill, while Way To The Stars's sire Reward For Effort is by Danehill’s son Exceed And Excel.

Gallery: Images courtesy of The Image Is Everything

More Than Ready influence

This carnival is really a story in spreading the success around a wide range of stallions, and the damsires are no different with a shuttle sire stepping up in the broodmare sire division; More Than Ready (USA) the only sire to have more than one daughter feature as a broodmare over the four days.

His daughters produced G1 Melbourne Cup winner Knights Choice out of Midnight Pearl, G3 Rising Fast S. winner Maharba (Pride Of Dubai) out of Blizzardly, and G3 Red Roses S. winner Amelita (Zousain) out of Miss Amelia.

As a damsire, More Than Ready has 187 stakes winners led by 25 at Group 1 level such as Coolangatta (Written Tycoon), Bivouac, Southport Tycoon (Written Tycoon), Shinzo, Rebel Dane and Forbidden Love (All Too Hard).

J-Mac an 11/10 performance

It’s impossible to talk about the Melbourne Cup Carnival without talking about the outstanding performance of James McDonald in the saddle. The champion jockey outdid himself, breaking his own record of 10 winners for the Cup carnival to ride an incredible 11 winners over the four days, including eight in stakes grade and four on the final day. McDonald's haul included four Group 1s – the Coolmore Stud S., Empire Rose S., Champions Sprint and Champions S. McDonald blew his rival jockeys away to claim his fourth consecutive Ron Hutchinson Award for the leading jockey over the carnival.

Arguably McDonald’s best ride of the carnival came when donning Magic Bloodstock’s silks, made famous by champion Winx (Street Cry {Ire}), when partnering Amelita (Zousain) to victory in the G3 Red Roses over 1200 metres down the Flemington straight.

The 3-year-old had drawn barrier one and looked destined to be stuck on the inside rail where the ground had proven clearly inferior during the day. The task looked impossible however, on jumping McDonald snagged Amelita to the tail of 14-strong field and made a swift move to the outside rail. At the 400-metre mark McDonald made his move, weaving a path through his rivals to hit the lead with just 50 metres left to race, eventually defeating Vestas (Toronado {Ire}) by 0.75l. A riding masterclass.

“I ride for some brilliant trainers,” McDonald said. “I get on the best horses and I’m lucky that I get to drive them basically. I steer them round a white rail and hope for the best, they do the rest.”

Ciaron Maher takes JB Cummings Award

Ciaron Maher had a memorable carnival by winning his first JB Cummings Award for champion trainer across the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Despite Chris Waller preparing six winners for the week, including three Group 1s, Ciaron Maher was able to achieve his first JB Cummings Award with five winners and 10 placings, putting him clear on points.

Maher got off to a flying start on Derby Day with Another Wil (Street Boss {USA}) and Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) running the quinella in the G2 The Damien Oliver (1400 metres) while Okita Soushi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})'s third placing in the G1 Melbourne Cup (3200 metres) added a further point to his total.

A treble on Crown Oaks Day with Running By (Impending) winning the Inglis Bracelet, Kettle Hill (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}) taking out the Off The Track Plate (1800 metres and Light Infantry Man (Fr) (Fast Company {Ire}) saluting in the Listed Chester Manifold S. put Maher in a commanding position going into the final day of the carnival.

Smokin’ Romans (NZ) (Ghibellines) was Maher’s sole winner on Champions Day in the G3 Queen Elizabeth S. with star mare Bella Nipotina (Pride of Dubai) going down for a narrow third in the G1 Champions Sprint.

Gallery: Some of the Ciaron Maher-trained winners over the Melbourne Cup Carnival, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Waller made it interesting on the final day, with Via Sistina and Hinged winning while Atishu and Fangirl finished in the placings however it was Maher who was able to cling on for the victory.

“I’m pretty proud,” Maher said. “They are coming (here) from all over the world.”

Yulong making its mark

We can all confidently state that Yulong are going to have a huge impact on the Australian racing and breeding scene.

The green and white colours of Yulong have become a mainstay in Australian racing in recent years and were carried to victory in two of the eight Group 1 races this carnival, with Via Sistina cementing her superstar status in the G1 Champions S., after Treasurethe Moment backed up her G2 Wakeful S. win in the G1 Crown Oaks.

These results don’t come as any fluke, with Yulong investing serious money into bloodstock in the past four years, dominating the mare market in recent times.

Yulong purchased Via Sistina under the banner of Evergreen Equine for 2,700,000gns (AU$5.5 million) when she was offered at the 2023 Tattersalls December Mares Sale after winning the G1 Pretty Polly S., while Treasurethe Moment was a homebred by Yulong stallion Alabama Express. The filly became Alabama Express’ first Group 1 winner exactly one year after producing his first stakes winner on Oaks Day last year with Karavas in the G3 Ottawa S.

Furthermore, the racing and breeding juggernaut also played a role in the two 2-year-old stakes winners during the carnival: breeding and selling the winner of the R. Listed Inglis Banner, Within The Law (Lucky Vega {Ire}) while G3 Maribyrnong Plate winner Tycoon Star (Written Tycoon) is sired by veteran stallion Written Tycoon.

Given Yulong's strong stallion roster, including rising star Alabama Express, and enviable broodmare band - it can only mean a stronger and more diverse gene pool for Australian racing and breeding.

Aussie underdog keeps Cup dream alive for many

In an era dominated by the big stables, wealthy owners, and international competitors, Knight's Choice's unexpected victory in the Cup was a nostalgic throwback to a time when the homegrown stayer could triumph over the elite thoroughbreds. This underdog triumph is the kind of story that captures the imagination of all Australians.

Despite being well-established figures in the racing industry, Sheila Laxon and John Symons lack the deep pockets of mega-wealthy owners and global breeding powerhouses. Knight's Choice's story defies the current trend of the race. A $85,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Book 2 purchase, out a $1000 mare Midnight Pearl, his purchase price was a mere fraction of what is typically spent to import European stayers for the Cup.

The great Australian underdog story was complete with Newgate Farm’s speed sire Extreme Choice, siring the Melbourne Cup winner. The star stallion is now credited with producing both a Melbourne Cup champion and a Golden Slipper winner - an accomplishment previously achieved only by the legendary Sir Tristram (Ire).

Laxon echoed the sentiments of many ordinary Australians after the race when she said, “Go the Aussie battlers!”

Table: Complete list of stakes winners throughout the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival