1989 Melbourne Cup

Edition of the Melbourne Cup

1989 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
LocationFlemington Racecourse
Date7 Nov 1989
Distance3200m
Winning horseTawriffic
Winning time3:17.1
Final odds30/1
JockeyShane Dye
TrainerLee Freedman
SurfaceTurf
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300 to go and Super Impose has hit the front, he's drawn level with Kudz and put his nose in front, Lord Hybrow, Tawriffic run on down the outside. Super Impose in front, Kudz fighting back and Tawriffic coming at them on the outside. Super Impose in front, Kudz, on the outside Tawriffic wears him down, Tawrffic has hit the front, Tawrffic wins the Melbourne Cup by 2 lengths, Super Impose.

Commentator Greg Miles describes the climax of the race

The 1989 Melbourne Cup was a handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 7 November 1989 over 3200m, at Flemington Racecourse.

Background

The race was won by the New Zealand bred stallion Tawriffic, trained by Lee Freedman and ridden by Shane Dye. The runner up was Super Impose also trained by Freedman and third place went to Kudz trained by Colin Hayes.[1] The winning margin was two and a quarter lengths with a further short half head to third place. The winning time of 3:17.1 was a race record, beating the previous year's time set by Empire Rose but was it lowered again in the following year's Cup by Kingston Rule.

Tawriffic who was sired by Tawfig and his dam was Joyarty (by Noble Bijou) did his early racing in New Zealand. Moving to Australia he then won the 1988 South Australian St Leger and 1989 AJC St Leger. After finishing second-last in the 1989 Caulfield Cup he was a 30/1 outsider in the Melbourne Cup. Tawriffic later won the 1989 C B Cox Stakes at Ascot Racecourse (Western Australia).[2]

This win gave Lee Freedman his first Melbourne Cup training win. Lee went on to record five Melbourne Cup victories with Tawriffic, Subzero (1992), Doriemus (1995) and Makybe Diva (2004 and 2005).[3][4]

It was only Melbourne Cup win for jockey Shane Dye but he also placed third in the 1986 Cup on Sea Legend and was runner up on Shiva's Revenge and Nothin' Leica Dane in the 1991 and 1995 Cups.[5]

Field

The following are the placegetters in the 1989 Melbourne Cup.[6]

Place Horse Weight (kg) Trainer Jockey
1st Tawriffic 54 Lee Freedman Shane Dye
2nd Super Impose 56 Lee Freedman Darren Gauci
3rd Kudz 52.5 Colin Hayes Michael Clarke

References

  1. ^ "Past Winners - 1981 to 1990 Melbourne Cup Winners - Races.com.au". www.races.com.au. 22 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Tawrrific racehorse Melbourne Cup winner 1989". www.racerate.com.
  3. ^ "Lee Freedman: Champion Thoroughbred Horse Trainer. Lee Freedman". www.progroupracing.com.au. 19 March 2020.
  4. ^ https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/superracing/champion-trainer-lee-freedman-opens-up-about-how-he-stumbled-from-everest-to-the-bottle/news-story/e8c383f01abc0710a8a582e2dc827d52
  5. ^ "Shane Dye, Champion Australian And International Jockey - Shane Dye". www.progroupracing.com.au. 5 September 2023.
  6. ^ New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Annual 1990 (19th edition). Dillon, Mike, Editor. Moa Publications, Auckland, New Zealand.
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