20 Unforgettable Races

As the spring carnival heats up and horse racing comes to the fore, Nick Tedeschi and Cliff Bingham take a look at the most memorable races of the last 20 years.

2005 Melbourne Cup: The Hat-Trick

Makybe Diva was the Melbourne Cup queen after winning the Cups in 2003 and 2004 and a victory as wished for by everyone across Australia. There was conjecture over whether she would run or not but even with the big weight she was sent out as the popular elect. She settled well back and victory seemed not impossible but extraordinarily difficult. Then the field parted, Boss got into her and "a champion becomes a legend".

2004 Australian Cup: Lonhro Down, But Not Out

In his farewell Melbourne race, Lonhro was sent out a raging hot favourite but looked well and truly beaten 250m from home after being checked and pocketed but eventually the champ got out and let down with his customary finish to grab Delzao on the line. Greg Miles once again gives a terrific call.

2001 Cox Plate: When Champions Collide

One of the most controversial Cox Plates ever run, Sunline went into this having won two straight but was up against her great rival Northerly, the West Australian Tiger. They had met in the Feehan and Northerly got the money but the Valley was Sunline's. Sunline looked the winner on the bend then Northerly and Viscount came. Northerly finished first but the connections of both placegetters protested after being flattened. Somehow all protests were dismissed and Northerly would win his first of two Cox Plates.

2002 Yalumba Stakes: An Almighty Battle

In her last season,Sunline looked the winner of the Yalumba Stakes in what was to be her second last start. She was rolling clear and was home for all money around the bend. At the 200m, she still looked home. And perhaps, if she was a year younger, she would have been. But The Black Flash, the champion galloper Lonhro, came rocketing down the outside and like his old man Octagonal he found it at the death in what was a truly memorable group one race.

2002 Melbourne Cup: Riding with the Spirit of Jason

Damien Oliver had suffered a tragedy in the lead-up to the 2002 Melbourne Cup when his brother Jason was tragically killed in a fall but guided by the spirit of his brother he lifted the Dermot Weld trained Media Puzzle to a dominant Cup win as the nation collectively wiped a tear away in one of the most emotional Cups ever run.

2000 Golden Slipper: Belle Du Jour Bombs the Start

You simply don't win the Golden Slipper if you miss the kick and you certanily don't if you miss it by six lengths but that is what happened when Belle Du Jour won the Slipper in 2000 in one of the most memorable races you will ever see. Afterwards, John Singleton shouted the bar in an event that is still talked about to this day.

1991 Epsom Handicap: Super Carries the Grandstand

Super Impose was a mighty miler who won back-to-back Doncasters in 1990 and 1991 over the famed Randwick Mile. His second Epsom (seen from 5:06) was perhaps his most astonishing. In a great ride from Darren Beadman, Super Impose was last on the turn under a huge impost but Super weaved through the field and got home with a huge flourish to rapturous cheering from the Randwick faithful.

1997 Melbourne Cup: Sorry Greg

Greg Hall was adamant he had guided Doriemus to his second Melbourne Cup in '97 when he hit the line, neck-and-neck, with Might and Power who only 10 days previous had trounced a quality Caulfield Cup field. Hall rose in the saddle, threw his whip in the air. But it wasn't to be. Might and Power won by a lip.

2000 Cox Plate: The Queen Kills Them

It had to be seen to be believed. The mighty mare Sunline went back-to-back in 2000 by breaking the hearts and spirits of her rivals by applying pressure from the 800m. She just got further in front, winning Australia's weight-for-age championship by seven lengths. For sheer dominance at such an elite level, nothing passes the 2000 Cox Plate.

1996 Cox Plate: Four Across the Track

Finishes don't come much better than they did in the '96 Cox Plate where Saintly, All Our Mob, Filante and Juggler were right across the track. Saintly got the money and would race into equine immortality two-and-a-half weeks later when he doubled it with the Melbourne Cup.

2003 Tancred Stakes: A War for the Ages

There have been few better two-horse wars than that staged between champion Northerly and outsider Freemason in the 2003 Tancred Stakes, a fight reminiscent of Bonecrusher and Our Waverley Star in the '86 Cox Plate. Both took off at the 800m and eyeballed each other all the way, destroying the rest of the field. This was the kind of fight Norhterly loved but he was bested by Freemason, who never won another race.

1992 Cox Plate: Carnage at the Valley

The '92 Cox Plate was packed full of stars with the likes of Naturalism, Better Loosen Up, Let's Elope, Rough Habit and Super Impose all going around and it will forever be remembered for the fall that wiped out hotpot Naturalism. What shouldn't be forgotten though is the guts and determination shown by Super Impose to run down Let's Elope in the shadows of the post.

2002 Cox Plate: The Last Dance

In Sunline's last race, she went head-to-head with her great rival Northerly for the final time. Northerly was the favourite but Sunline was the popular elect. The mighty mare gave a sight but The Fighting Tiger came down the outside and gobbled her up to dash the fairytale and make history himself.

2006 Cox Plate: The Old Boy Salutes

Fields of Omagh had won a Cox Plate but he wasn't expected to threaten in 2006 as a nine-year-old but that's what happened in 2006 when he swamped El Segundo to win a memorable Cox Plate, only added to by the fact caller Bryan Martin was an owner of the great FOO. "He's got it, he's done it."

1999 Caulfield Guineas: Two Great Rivals

The two boom three-year-olds in the spring of '99 were Redoute's Choice and Testa Rossa, "great rivals" in the words of Greg Miles, and they didn't disappoint in one of the "very great Guineas". Redoute's Choice led but gave Testa Rossa the gun run when rolling off the fence at the turn. Testa Rossa shot clear but Redoute's came again and dived on the line to record a memorable victory.

2002 Caulfield Cup: A Champion Arrives

Under a big weight, the West Australian champion held off all challenges and the question mark over his ability to run 2400m to hold on against an excellent Caulfield Cup win. He took off early and had enough fight to hold off the fast fnishing field.

2011 Newmarket Handicap: Perfect

Black Caviar made it a perfect 10 from 10 and confirmed her standing as the world's best sprinter when she strode away to a mammoth victory in this year's Newmarket Handicap. Almost untouched, she bounded away from a quality field to maintain her unbeaten record.

2005 Cox Plate: Riding the Wave

All Makybe Diva needed to do to assert her claim as the greatest mare in history was to win the Cox Plate and she did just that in 2005, her second last race. The field panicked and all took off early, playing right into the hands of the great staying mare, who rode the wave and streaked to victory.

2002 Doncaster Handicap: A Champion to the End

The mighty Sunline never stopped fighting and so it was in 2002 when the mighty mare claimed her second Doncaster three years after her first. Forced to break a weight carrying record for a mare, Sunline led all the way with 58kg on her back to hold out the great bridesmaid of the Australian turf Shogun Lodge in a thrilling finish.

1996 AJC Derby: The Big O

Octagonal made a habit of winning in close finishes and it was the same story in the 1996 AJC Derby when The Big O came with a strong run down the outside to catch Saintly, Filante and Nothin' Leica Dane in one of the strongest Derbies of the last 20 years.

2004 Queen Elizabeth Stakes: No Fairytale for Lonhro

A magnificent ride on Grand Armee ruined the farewell of champion galloper Lonhro. Randwick was packed on a wet day to see off Lonhro but pinching an easy run in front, the underrated Grand Armee strode away to victory.