History
 The first Melbourne Cup held in 1861 was certainly a dramatic event. According to legend, Archer the first horse to win the Melbourne Cup was reported to have walked 850 km (560 miles) from Nowra to Flemington to be a part of a race, that one day would capture the spirit of a nation.
While at the time the news of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills may have kept people away from the race, a modest crowd of four thousand watched the seventeen starters and the thrilling lead up. Before the race commenced, Twilight started early and was captured only after he had run the whole course, and tragically, two horses, Dispatch and Medora, had died after a fall.
The following year Archer raced again to win his second successive Melbourne Cup. Although it is rumoured, he again had walked from Nowra to Flemington, many people thought it was more likely that he had travelled anonymously by ship.
Despite his owner's intention to race Archer for a third Melbourne Cup, he was unable to do so because of a technical error. Archer's acceptance nomination to race failed to arrive in time because it was delayed in the post. As a result, owners scratched many horses, in a show of solidarity. This left a starting field of only seven horses that history shows was to be the smallest field of horses to race in the Melbourne Cup.
 At ten years of age, Archer fell in a race and was retired to stud but his place in history was forever cemented. The first Melbourne Cup winner was immortalised in the 1984 film 'Archer'.
Evolution of the Melbourne Cup Trophy
In 1930, the champion Phar Lap won the Melbourne Cup race by three lengths. In front of a crowd of 72,358 people, Phar Lap's owner received the Melbourne Cup trophy.
However, this was not always the case because in the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, Archer's owner received ?10 and a "hand-beaten gold watch" instead of the trophy we recognise today as the Melbourne Cup.
In 1996, Saintly won $1 430 000 for his owner and a gold trophy valued at $32500. His trainer and jockey received a miniature gold trophy valued at $1000 whilst the Tommy Woodcock Trophy valued at $500 was awarded to his strapper.
Every year the Melbourne Cup trophy is awarded as a prize because it is a symbol that salutes the wonderful achievement in racing by owners, trainers, jockeys and of course the great thoroughbred racehorse.
The following descriptions show how the Melbourne Cup trophy has changed its form many times over the years.
| 1861 |
A trophy was not awarded. |
| 1865 |
The first year a trophy was awarded. Manufactured in England it was an elaborate silver bowl on a stand with a narrow neck reinforced with two ornate handles and topped with a horse and rider. |
| 1867 |
A silver trophy from England displays "Alexander Taming the Horse", the engraved name of the winning horse and a figure of a winged female. |
| 1876 |
The first gold cup trophy manufactured in Victoria. An Etruscan shape with two handles. One side depicted a picture of a horse race with the grandstand and hill of Flemington in the background. The opposite side, inscribed on a crimson enamelled garter, the words "Melbourne Cup, 1876" and the name of the winning horse. |
| 1888 |
Three silver horses on a silver plated base. |
| 1889 |
Controversy surrounded the silver "tea and coffee service" reputed to have been unacceptable as a trophy. |
| 1891 |
A trophy measuring two feet in length and fifteen inches high of a draped figure of Victory, standing on a pedestal, holding out an olive wreath to a jockey upon his horse. |
| 1894 |
From 1894 to 1898 trophies were not awarded as the economic depression engulfed the nation. |
| 1908 |
Three feet long plaque of an embossed silver galloping horse, that some people thought resembled a greyhound. |
| 1909 |
A silver centrepiece was awarded as a trophy. |
| 1914 |
This was the last year the Melbourne Cup trophy was made in England. It had a long base with a horse on each end facing out and a chalice cup in the centre. |
| 1915 |
A large rose bowl trophy that was made in Australia. |
| 1919 |
The current trophy design, a handmade gold three-handled loving cup, was awarded for the first time. |
Originally, the Melbourne Cup was ordered through the jeweller Drummonds and manufactured by J W Steeth & Son. The original craftsman was James Steeth and later his son Morris assumed his role. Morris Steeth taught Lucky Rocha, who in 1970 took on the responsibility to create the Cup. In 1984, the VRC placed an order for the Cup through another jeweller, Hardy Brothers, who in turn commissioned Lucky Rocha to manufacture the Cup. Each year it takes Lucky approximately eighty - one hundred hours to produce by hand the Melbourne Cup.
1922 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at £200.
1953 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at £550.
1960 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at £750.
1973 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at $3000.
1978 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at $9000.
1984 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at $23 000.
1987 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at $32 000.
1999 - The Melbourne Cup trophy valued at $32 500
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