Cup of the people: Kyabram residents of all ages came out in force to catch a glimpse of the Melbourne Cup trophy when Victorian Racing Club representative David Rutley displayed the trophy on a mid-2000s visit to the town.
Photo by
Ray Sizer
Forty years ago a syndicate of seven men from Girgarre Football Club won a touch less than $5000 at the Kyabram Club Melbourne Cup calcutta when Black Knight saluted as the winner of the 1984 Cup.
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Fast forward to 2024 and expectations are for the prize pool to surpass $50,000 for the second successive year after a record total in 2023 saw the winner walk away with more than $30,000 for the purchase of eventual winner Without A Fight.
And several familiar faces will again be in the room as syndicates which were formed as far back as the late-1970s continue to play an active role in the event.
Kyabram has as strong a relationship to the Melbourne Cup as any other country town in Australia and every year since the early 1960s — on the Monday evening before the race that stops the nation — there is an extra ingredient added to the mix with the calcutta staging on Cup eve.
Kyabram Club’s annual Melbourne Cup calcutta has run since 1963 and in recent years has broken records on an annual basis.
That 1984 Girgarre syndicate was headed by John Roberts and paid $425 for the winner, with the highest amount paid for a horse being $1200.
Every year there are a number of familiar faces in the crowd, including recently turned 90-year-old Kevin Andrews — a long time member of the calcutta’s most successful syndicate, affectionately known as the Mongrels.
They will slot in alongside long time adversaries — The Warriors (a syndicate featuring well known sportsman and businessman Peter Nelson) and Shirley Khule (a leading figure with the well known Weus syndicate).
The Mongrels are eight-time winners of the calcutta, starting out with nine members when the group was formed in 1978 — including Andrews, John Calley, Chris Salter, Brian and Geoff Cox, Paul Frankenhauser, Hayden Grosvenor, Algie Tonkin, Dr Michael McQueen-Thomson, John Westerveldt and Don McKenzie.
Five of those calcutta wins came between 1991 and 1999, including a clean sweep of the first three places in 1991.
It was the year that Let’s Elope saluted the judge and they collected $10,607 for the win (in modern terms that equates to $24,000).
They were pushed to $2000 in a bidding — a record at the time — but because they drew the horse only parted with half that amount to secure the winner.
Their other winners in the 1990s were Subzero (1992), Jeune (1994), Doriemus (1995) and Rogan Josh (1999).
Making up the eight winning years were Delta Blues (2006), Shocking (2009) and Dunaden (2011).
Dave Farrar won a record $30,000 first prize following his purchase of Without A Fight in the Kyabram Melbourne Cup calcutta of 2023.
· Last year a nine-member Stanhope-based syndicate paid a record amount for Melbourne Cup favourite Vauban at a record-breaking Kyabram Club calcutta on Monday evening.
Bidding on the much-talked about stayer opened at $5000 and three syndicates were involved in a spirited contest which saw the horse eventually sold for $7600.
That was a major influence on the record pool, which topped $50,000 for the first time in the long history of the event.
The total pool of $50,625 included a second prize of $10,125, third prize of $5063 and fourth prize was $2531.
There were 12,925 $2 calcutta tickets sold in the lead up to the event.
Shepparton trots trainer and former Kyabramite Dave Farrar spending $1000 on tickets and a little disappointed when he drew only a rank outsider (Sheraz) whom he promptly sold at the auction for $700.
It was a decision that cost Farrar $5063 as Sheraz ended up finishing third in the race that stops a nation. But Farrar was far from finished.
He created Kyabram Club calcutta history when he decided to purchase his top fancy for the famous race, Without A Fight, parting with $4600 for him – a decision he will now remember for ever.
Without A Fight powered away to score a famous victory for the father and son combination of Anthony and Sam Freedman, netting Farrar first prize of $30,375.
· In 2022 Melbourne Cup favourite Deauville Legend topped the bidding at the Kyabram Club’s Melbourne Cup calcutta, which at the time was another record pool.
But it was the $1100 investment of the seven-member Weus sydnicate, led by Shirley Khule and supported by Frank and Nola Findlay, John Ryan, Lorna McConnell, Barbara Wilson and John that picked up a record first prize — more than $28,000.
When auctioneer Brendan McConnell brought down the hammer on the last of the 23 runners there was $47,900 in the pool.
The first prize was $28,740, with the runner-up pocketing $9580, third $4790 and fourth $2395.
In 2021 Kyabram Club’s Melbourne Cup calcutta was the first major post-COVID-19 event the venue had conducted in 18 months.
The sale of the 24 horses for the running of the $8 million race produced a total prize pool of $39,705 — eclipsing the previous record by $7000.
Twenty-six syndicates registered on the evening and 140 fully vaccinated patrons attended the historic auction.
First prize for the calcutta was $23,823, with the syndicate owning the runner-up in the race rewarded with $7941, third $3971 and fourth $1985.
· Twenty years ago (in 2004) Bryan Hilton, Paddy Meehan, Stewart Gemmill and Gus Underwood parted with $2420 to buy Makybe Diva at the Kyabram Club Melbourne Cup calcutta.
The group set a new record with the purchase ― beating its own record of $2050 from a year earlier. It pocketed $8614.93 for the calcutta win.
