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The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861 - the winner was the horse Archer (see list of winners). Archer also won the cup the following year.
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The first woman owner to win the melbourne Cup was Edith Widdia, who owned Patrobas in 1915.
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Phar Lap's win in 1930 was the only odds on winner in history (8-11), and was also the shortest-priced favourite in Cup history.
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In 1954, 'Rising Fast' won the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup treble.
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Arwon, the 1978 Cup winner, was from the town of Nowra, as was the first cup winner Archer (1861). In fact, Arwon is Nowra spelt backwards
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The race was originally held over two miles (approximately 3,218 meters), but changed to the current distance of 3200 meters following Australia's adoption of the metric system in 1972.
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The first camera photo finish was in 1948 when 80/1 shot Rimfire controversially beat Dark Marne (12/1). Although the rider of Dark Marne, Jack Thompson, was sure he had won, the camera said otherwise. However, it was later found out that the camera was out of alignment, and was corrected before the next race.
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There have been no dead heats for first, but Topical and Gaine Carrington (1933) and Lahar and Zazabelle (1999) have tied for third.
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The youngest rider of a Melbourne Cup winner is believed to be Peter St Albans, who won on Briseis in 1876. Although his official age was not recorded, it is believed to be 13 at the time.
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Seventeen horses contested the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, watched by a crowd of 4000.
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The prize for the first Melbourne Cup was a gold watch and 170 pounds cash.
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The winner of the first race, Archer, is said to have walked 800km to the course from Nowra, New South Wales.
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The first northern hemisphere trained horse to win was Vintage Crop, from Ireland, in 1993.
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In 2002, Jockey Damien Oliver won on Media Puzzle, a week after his brother Jason was killed in a riding fall.
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The first and only horse to be a three time winner of the Melbourne Cup was Makybe Diva (2003, 2004, 2005)
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The record time for the event is 3 minutes 16.3 seconds by Kingston Rule in 1990.
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The 2006 Event carried 5.1 million dollars (Australian) in prize money.
