Monday Milestone: My Diva Commands
“Go and find the smallest child on this course, and there will be the only example of a person who will live long enough to see that again”
– Lee Freedman, trainer, Makybe Diva, in the aftermath of the 2005 Melbourne Cup
This Week in History:
2005, November 1:
Makybe Diva becomes the first horse in 145 years to ever win three Melbourne Cups.
There’s something special about watching thoroughbreds thundering down the straight at Flemington in the Melbourne Cup. But of course it long ago stopped being just about the horses. The first Tuesday in November has been engrained into the national culture for generations, and there are few events on the Australian calendar that carry the same wealth of history. After all, most of us know a Cup story or two, and it’s often difficult to pick a favourite.
There is 1861, when Archer won that first Melbourne Cup, the story of the horse walking over 800km to Melbourne, now part of Cup legend. Carbine in 1890 carried a mammoth 66kg.There is, of course the great Phar Lap who inspired a nation as the shortest-priced winner ever during the Great Depression in 1930. There is Bart Cummings taking Think Big back to back in 1974 and 1975, and who could forget Damien Oliver’s prayer to the skies in memory of his brother aboard Media Puzzle in 2002. All of these moments have each etched their way into the legend of the Melbourne Cup.
But here at the Milestone, none of them hold a candle to the Diva.
I admit I ignored any buzz about Makybe Diva during 2003. I watched on the big screen, grimacing when Glenn Boss steered her across the line. I couldn’t tell you where my money was that day. But I was impressed, and this would be the last time I would ever bet against her.
Twelve months later, as the rain belted down on Flemington during Cup Week, I smiled. I’d already backed the Diva after the Caulfield Cup, and she was as close to a certainty as I’d ever seen. Finding room, she thundered up the inside, and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. Crossing the line, she’d done what no mare had ever done before. This was a special horse.
Now the hype that surrounded Makybe Diva in 2005 had not been seen since Phar Lap. The nation seemed to stand behind a single horse. All week Tony Santic kept us guessing. Could she win? Would she even run? She was carrying 58kg after the Cox Plate, unprecedented for a mare. Not to mention, no horse had ever won three Melbourne Cups. It couldn’t be done, surely?
I was beside myself as they jumped. She sat well back in the field at the bend. Swinging into that Flemington straight, racegoers held their breath. Could she do it? Down the straight Maykbe Diva answered and entered immortality. A nation roared as Glenn Boss swung her down the outside to victory. Sure, some of us had pocketed cash, but this was never about the money. This mare had gone beyond any other horse in folklore.
The first Tuesday in November, holds a special place in Australian culture. And that day Makybe Diva etched her place in Melbourne Cup legend as the greatest of them all.
The Milestone Five – Favourite Melbourne Cup Champions
5. Media Puzzle (2002)
4. Think Big (1974, 1975)
3. Carbine (1890)
2. Phar Lap (1930)
1. Makybe Diva (2003, 2004, 2005)
With thanks to Mark Dadswell/Getty Images for the photo
