None of the 16 sires represented in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup have had a winner in the race before, guaranteeing a new sire on the honour roll.
There have been some relatively obscure sires etch their name in the history of the great race in recent times. Think Zed, who spent a season servicing Clydesdale mares in the southern highlands of New Zealand.
Or Outstrip, the son of Exceed And Excel who now plies his trade in Brazil, or Declaration Of War, who had just two Australian crops before being sold to Japan.
In between there have been multiple Cup-winning sires like Teofilo and Monsun, who have produced three apiece in the past 15 years.
That list is also interesting for who it doesn’t contain, namely Galileo, the most dominant sire of stayers in the world this century. It is not for lack of opportunity. The Coolmore champion has had 34 different runners in the Melbourne Cup.
Tiger Moth, Johannes Vermeer and Purple Moon came closest when second in 2020, 2017 and 2007 respectively, while Il Paradiso was third in 2019.
On Tuesday, the late Galileo, whose final European crop are two this year, has three runners, all seven-year-olds, Land Legend, Interpretation and Okita Soushi. They are three of the 72 stakes winners he has had in this country.
The most represented sire on Tuesday is Cambridge Stud’s Almanzor, who has Circle Of Fire, Athabascan, Manzoice and Positivity on the race. The first two are bred from his time at Haras D’Etreham in France, while the other pair are Kiwi-bred from his time with Cambridge.
Cambridge Stud has a storied history in the Cup, with Zabeel and his father Sir Tristram having produced three Cup winners apiece.
Also with multiple representatives is newly retired Coolmore champion Fastnet Rock, including the favourite Buckaroo. Fastnet Rock was a sprinter and he won a 1200 metre stakes race at this very carnival 20 years ago. He has only had two previous Melbourne Cup runners.
One was Super Cool, ninth in 2013, the other was Absurde, who returns this year for Willie Mullins.
Not only would Fastnet Rock become the second son of Danehill to sire a Melbourne Cup winner (after Desert King), he would also become the first horse to sire the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup winner in the one year with two different horses since Zabeel in 1998.
Buckaroo is out of Galileo mare, as are Circle Of Fire, Fancy Man and Saint George, while interestingly Okita Soushi, a son of Galileo, is out of a Fastnet Rock mare. That Coolmore pair are the only two stallions represented as both sires and damsires in Tuesday’s field.
Also with multiple representatives is Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars, with Just Fine and Sea King, as well as Roaring Lion, who has the grey pair Valiant King and Saint George in the race.
Pride Of Dubai, who currently sits on top of the Australian sires’ championships thanks largely to his sprinting star Bella Nipotina, is represented with the Irish-bred Fancy Man. He and Fastnet Rock are the only two sires in the current Top 10 in Australia to have runner on Tuesday’s race.
Other Australian-bred sires with runners in the race are Extreme Choice, the fertility-challenged but high-performing Newgate resident, Alpine Eagle, the Tasmanian-based son of High Chaparral, and Sweynesse, the son of Lonhro who operates out of Novara Park in New Zealand.
Ocean Park (Waikato Stud) and Redwood (Westbury Stud) are also both based in New Zealand.
Japanese-based Drefong has his first runner in the race, Warp Speed, while Irish-based Harzand, a son of Sea The Stars, is represented by Mostly Cloudy.
Galiway, a French-based son of Galileo, has a leading chance in Vauban, while Juddmonte’s Kingman has one of the four Australian-bred horses in race, Godolphin’s Zardozi.
The sole American-based sire with a runner in the race is Dialled In, whose son Onesmoothoperator, comes through the Geelong Cup.
In addition to the 17 individual sires represented on Tuesday, there are 19 different broodmare sires. As mentioned, there are four out of daughters of Galileo, while there are three out of daughters of Dansili.
Melbourne Cup 2024 pedigrees:
1 - Vauban - 7g Galiway x Waldfest
2 - Buckaroo - 6g Fastnet Rock x Roheryn
3 - Circle Of Fire - 5h Almanzor x Fiery Sunset
4 - Warp Speed - 6h Drefong x Deep Love
5 - Kovalica - 5g Ocean Park x Vitesse
6 - Sharp 'n' Smart - 5g Redwood x Queen Margaret
7 - Just Fine - 7g Sea The Stars x Bint Almatar
8 - Land Legend - 5g Galileo x Landikusic
9 - Absurde - 7g Fastnet Rock x Incroyable
10 - Athabascan - 6g Almanzor x Alzubra
11 - Knight's Choice - 5g Extreme Choice x Midnight Pearl
12 - Okita Soushi - 7h Galileo x Amicus
13 - Onesmoothoperator - 7g Dialed In x Sueno D'oro
14 - Zardozi - 4m Kingman x Chanderi
15 - Sea King - 6g Sea The Stars x Pamona
16 - Valiant King - 5g Roaring Lion x Assembly
17 - Fancy Man - 7g Pride Of Dubai x Fancy
18 - Interpretation - 7g Galileo x Daldiyna
19 - Manzoice - 5g Almanzor x Choice
20 - Mostly Cloudy - 6g Harzand x Clarinda
21 - Positivity - 4m Almanzor x Pussy O'reilly
22 - Saint George - 5h Roaring Lion x Lady Dragon
23 - The Map - 6m Alpine Eagle x This Moment
24 - Trust In You - 6g Sweynesse x Shinko Bay
