The Caulfield Cup is one of the world’s great 2400 metre handicap races. It is the major Group 1 event held by the Melbourne Racing Club and is normally held on the third Saturday in October.
- Track: Caulfield Racecourse
- Date: 19 October 2019
- Race Type: Group 1 Handicap
- Distance: 2400m
Caulfield Cup Preview
Track: Good Weather: Fine
There is a full field of 18 runners plus 4 emergencies for the $5,000,000 Stella Artois Caulfield Cup, with 7 four-year-olds, and the rest ranging up to nine-year-old Hartnell. There is only one mare, Qafila and the 3rd emergency is also a mare. Many of the overseas horses are having their first Australian start here. Five of the runners had their last start in the Turnbull Stakes over 2000m, three had their last run in the Metropolitan over 2400m and three in the Herbert Power over 2400m.
The early favourite is Finche, one of the 2 Chris Waller runners, who was a fast closing 2nd in the Turnbull stakes last outing. Second favourite is Japanese stayer Mer De Glace who has won his last 5 starts over distances of 2000m and 2200m. Third favourite is the beautifully-bred import Constantinople who will be having his first Australian start for the Hayes/Dabernig team who won a Group 3 in Ireland earlier in the year and has ran 2nd at his last 3 outings.
Mr Quickie won the Queensland Derby over this distance in the winter and resumed with a solid 3rd in the Makybe Diva, Vow And Declare resumed for 4th in the Turnbull and should improve on that. Mustajeer is a UK import having his first run for Kris Lees and won the Ebor Handicap at York in the UK last start. Hartnell is currently 20 to 1 and has raced well this campaign without winning. He finished 3rd in the Turnbull and is a definite each-way chance. Most of the field is at 20 to 1 or longer.
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2019 Caulfield Cup Tips
The following are the top 5 selections for this years race.
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Jo’s Tips
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| 6 Finche | ||
| 1Hartnell | ||
| 11 Constantinople | ||
| 3 Mer De Glace | ||
| 13 Crown Prosecutor |
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Previous Caulfield Cup Winners:
The 2012 race was won by French horse Dunaden who out-stayed one of the best Caulfield Cup fields in recent years. Second past the post by only half a length was Alcopop followed by Lights Of Heaven for third.
See below for a list of previous winners for one of Australian horse racings most prestigious events.
| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
| 2019 | Mer De Glace (JPN) | Vow And Declare | Mirage Dancer (GBR) |
| 2018 | Best Solution (IRL) | Homesman | The Cliffsofmoher (IRL) |
| 2017 | Boom Time | Single Gaze | Johannes Vermeer (IRE) |
| 2016 | Jameka | Scottish (IRE) | Exospheric (GB) |
| 2015 | Mongolian Khan | Trip To Paris (IRE) | Our Ivanhowe (GER) |
| 2014 | Admire Rakti (JPN) | Rising Romance (NZ) | Lucia Valentina (NZ) |
| 2013 | Fawkner | Dandino (GB) | Dear Demi |
| 2012 | Dunaden | Alcopop | Lights Of Heaven |
| 2011 | Southern Speed | Green Moon | Tullamore |
| 2010 | Descarado | Harris Tweed | Monaco Consul |
| 2009 | Viewed | Roman Emperor | Vigor |
| 2008 | All The Good | Nom Du Jeu | Barbaricus |
| 2007 | Master O’Reilly | Douro Valley | Princess Coup |
| 2006 | Tawqeet | Aqua Damore | Delta Blues |
| 2005 | Railings | Eye Popper | Mummify |
| 2004 | Elvstroem | Makybe Diva | Grey Song |
| 2003 | Mummify | Grey Song | Distinctly Secret |
| 2002 | Northerly | Fields Of Omagh | Republic Lass |
| 2001 | Ethereal | Sky Heights | Celestial Show |
| 2000 | Diatribe | Kaapstad Way | Fairway |
History Of The Caulfield Cup Race
The Caulfield Cup was first held in the autumn of 1879 over 1½ miles and was won by a horse named Newminster. It was moved from the autumn to the spring in 1881, which means two races were run that year. In 1972 the metric distance of 2400 metres was adopted, and in 1979 it became a Group 1 race.
Major lead-up races are the Group 1 AJC Metropolitan, Turnbull, Underwood and Caulfield Stakes, the Makybe Diva Stakes, formerly known as the Craiglee Stakes, and the Group 3 Craven Plate. Three-year-olds that go well in the Caulfield Cup will normally contest the Victoria Derby two weeks later, while the older horses will try their hand at the WFA Cox Plate over 2040 metres the following week, the Mackinnon Stakes over 2000 metres two weeks later or the 3200 metre Melbourne Cup.
The race has always been held at Caulfield except for 1940 to 1943 when Caulfield racecourse was used as a troop base and it was held at Flemington. The race has now grown into one of Australia’s toughest handicap races and with prize money worth over 2 million dollars it is an important lead up race to the Melbourne Cup.
Only six horses have won more than one Caulfield Cup in its long history, with the most recent being Ming Dynasty who won in 1977 and 1980. Eleven horses have won the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double, with the latest being Ethereal in 2001. The race is well- known as the first leg in Australia’s most popular betting double, the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup.