Run The Numbers – Brothers in arms – A pair of Cup siblings

In 1897, perhaps the greatest sibling rivalry on an Australian racetrack played out when brothers Gaulus and The Grafter fought out the finish of the Melbourne Cup.

Gaulus, two years older than his full brother – both were by Gozo out of the Kiwi-bred mare Industry – claimed the honours on the day by half a head in a thrilling Flemington finish. Bill Forrester trained and owned both horses in a unique Cup feat with siblings.

Twelve months later, The Grafter got compensation and Forrester a second Cup when they won the 1898 edition of the race.

They weren’t the first siblings to both win the race. Toryboy (by Wollaton) won the Melbourne Cup in 1866 and 12 months later his half-brother The Barb, by Sir Hercules, repeated the feat.

In 1871, Nimblefoot was victorious at Flemington. He was by Panic out of Quickstep. The same mare was also responsible for the 1873 winner The Quack, who was by Peter Wilkins.

However, since 1898, no pair of siblings – that is horses with the same dam – have won both the Melbourne Cup, and they have certainly not run the quinella.

In fact, since at least 1983, only one pair of siblings have contested the same Melbourne Cup – until Tuesday.

In an interesting quirk for the 2025 edition, Middle Earth and Buckaroo, both out of Irish-bred Galileo mare Roheryn, will run in Tuesday’s race, as will Arapaho and Athabascan, who share the same dam, Alzubra.

The last time it happened in the Melbourne Cup was when half-brothers Saptapadi and Modun both contested the race in 2011.

Saptapadi, by Indian Ridge out of Sadler’s Wells mare Olympienne, finished 16th, while Modun, by King’s Best out of the same mare, trailed the field in. The former was trained by Brian Ellison and the latter by Saeed Bin Suroor.

Since 1983, there have been nine sets of siblings or half-siblings to have contested different editions of the Melbourne Cup.

The most recent pair was Sir Lucan (2021) and Sir Dragonet (2020),  while shortly before that was Bondi Beach (2015, 2016 and 2017) and Constantinople (2019), Opinion (2014) and Fox Hunt (2011) and Mourayan (2013 and 2012) and Mourilyan (2009).

Further back are Royal Heights (1987) and Mapperley Heights (1984 and 1985), Dark Intruder (1986) and Pass The Baton (1984), Cape Cover (2009) and Upsetthym (2004), The Phantom (1989, 1990 and 1993) and The Phantom Chance (1995 and 1995) and Maharajah (1991 and 1992) and My Tristram’s Belle (1986).   

To have two sets of siblings in the same race is an historical moment in the long history of the Cup and is made even more unusual considering all four horses were bred in the Northern Hemisphere.

Buckaroo, by Fastnet Rock, is a year older than Middle Earth, who is by Roaring Lion. Both were bred by The Roheryn Partnership but found their way to Australia in different fashion for differing connections, although Qatar racing features in the ownership of both. The former is trained by Chris Waller, the latter for Ciaron Maher.

They previously clashed in the Underwood Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with Buckaroo leading the ledger 2-0.

Arapaho, who is aiming to become the first nine year old to win the race, is two years older than Athabascan. The former is by Lope de Vega, the latter by Almanzor. Again they have different ownership and different trainers, with Arapaho with Bjorn Baker and Athabascan with John O’Shea and Tom Charlton.

Amazingly, this is the seventh time they have raced against one another, with Arapaho having beaten his younger brother home in five of the past six times. The only ‘win’ for Athabascan came when they finished 12^th and 13^th in the Metropolitan Handicap last month.

Separately, for the second straight year, none of the 18 sires with runners in the race have had a previous Cup winner.

Galileo, who is represented by Land Legend and Changingoftheguard, has had 37 different runners in the Cup without success.      

Tiger Moth, Johannes Vermeer and Purple Moon came closest when second in 2020, 2017 and 2007 respectively, while Il Paradiso was third in 2019.

Fastnet Rock, fresh from a Cox Plate quinella, is well represented with three runners, Buckaroo, Absurde and Goodie Two Shoes. He is aiming to become the first horse since 1998 to win the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup double with two different horses.

Roaring Lion has two representatives, Middle Earth and Valiant King, while Wootton Bassett also has two, Al Riffa and Presage Nocturne.

Current favourite Half Yours is one of just 22 runners for his sire St Jean. In theory, that would make him a genetic outlier, but it is also worth noting that his grandsire Teofilo has produced three previous Melbourne Cup winners.

His damsire Desert King is also responsible for a trio of Cup wins, in his case from the one horse, his daughter Makybe Diva.