PROTECTIONIST’S triumph gave the Hunter another day of glory in the race that stops the nation.
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In the Melbourne Cup’s 154-year history, there have been more than 30 winners with links to the Hunter, starting with the 1867 champion Tim Whiffler, from Tocal on the Paterson River.
The following year, Glencoe won the cup for Singleton owner and trainer Richard Dines.
Research by veteran racing writer Brian Russell, of Bloodstock Media Service at Muswellbrook, showed that Tocal, owned by Charles Reynolds, was one of Australia’s leading studs at the time and one of its sires, New Warrior, who had earlier stood at The Horse and Jockey Inn at Jerrys Plains, was a major influence on the early years of the cup.
New Warrior sired the cup winners Warrior (1869), The Pearl (1871) and Arsenal (1886).
Other cup winners that cemented the Hunter Valley’s position as a breeding ground of champions included Lord Cardigan (1903), Poseidon (1906), Lord Nolan (1908), Prince Foote (1909), Piastre (1912), Night Watch (1918) and Poitrel (1920).
In 1913, Maitland’s Posinatus led from start to finish to give Newcastle jockey Albert Shanahan back-to-back victories.
The Dangar family, which owned Neotsfield Stud near Singleton, bred and raced Peter Pan, which won the cup in 1932 and 1934.
Scone’s Kia Ora Stud put its stamp on cup history with Windbag (1925), Delta (1951), Evening Peal (1956) and Baystone (1958)
Another Scone alumni to take the cup was Wakefield Stud’s Subzero (1992), while 2009 winner Shocking was born and bred at Ilala Stud, two kilometres south of Scone.
The Upper Hunter town, known as the horse capital of Australia, also has links to the greatest cup winner of all - Makybe Diva.
The three-time winner was broken in by Scone’s Greg Bennett.
Besides Shanahan, the Hunter has also been connected to the great race through the success of a number of jockeys, including Wayne Harris, who rode Jeune to victory in 1994, and Jim Pike, the Junction-born jockey who steered home the immortal Phar Lap in 1930.
Four Newcastle Cup winners have also gone on to win the Melbourne Cup, starting with Russia (1944 Newcastle Cup, 1946 Melbourne Cup) and followed by Hyperno (1977, 1979), Gurner’s Lane (both in 1982) and Green Moon (2011, 2012).
