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
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
publican Walter Craig bought Nimblefoot from
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
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.
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
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' newspaper the day before the Cup. 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.
The winning time of 3:37.0 was at the time the fastest winning time in the race's history.
This is the list of placegetters for the 1870 Melbourne Cup.
See also
*
Melbourne Cup
*
List of Melbourne Cup winners
This is a list of the winners of the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major thoroughbred horse race. It is run at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Each year, internationally bred or owned horses compete in the race. Since 188 ...
*
Victoria Racing Club
The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual "race that stops a nation", the Melbourne Cup, ...
References
External links
1870 Melbourne Cupfootyjumpers.com
1870
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England.
** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed.
* January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...
Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
19th century in Melbourne
1870s in Melbourne
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