1869 Melbourne Cup
The 1869 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Thursday, 4 November 1869.
This year was the ninth running of the Melbourne Cup. This was one of the first instances where the day of the race was a declared public holiday in Melbourne.
A total of 33 runners declared for the race, including previous Cup runners Barwon and The Fly, but both horses broke down in the weeks before the race. Also scratched was early favourite Manuka who had been brought from New Zealand for the race only to suffer an injury. Sydney-trained horse Warrior had defeated previous Melbourne Cup winner Glencoe in the Essendon Stakes the previous weekend and was one of the favoured runners, behind Circassian who would start favourite who had won the Metropolitan earlier in the year.
Under grey skies with passing showers, a field of 26 runners started the race. Warrior got off to a good start, but was held back by his jockey Joe Morrison to allow Bishopsbourne, Sheet Anchor and Traverton to lead the field at the first turn. Along the river straight, Traverton and Circassian took up the lead running, until Warrior eased ahead before the final turn and lead comfortably down the Flemington straight to win the Cup. Unfancied runner The Monk had tried to make up ground, but was no match for Warrior to finish second, while Phoebe ran home strongly to finish third. Palmerston, which had missed the start, finished ahead of the rest of the field in sixth. At the final turn Paddy's Land was pushed into a post by Circassian. His jockey suffering a concussion after he was knocked off the horse who was injured in the collision.
Melbourne bookmaker Austin Saqui had purchased Warrior for £400 from Sydney following the horse's nomination for the Cup. It was reported that he won more than £10,000 on the outcome of the race.
In the lead up to the race, Saqui and trainer Robert Sevior had booked young jockey Andrew Mitchelson to ride Warrior in the race, but an altercation following a sluggish training gallop saw Mitchelson removed from the ride for the more experienced Joe Morrison. Saqui would later give Mitchelson £100 from his winnings as compensation.
Full results
This is the list of placegetters for the 1869 Melbourne Cup.| Place | Horse | Age Gender | Jockey | Weight | Trainer | Owner | Odds | Margin |
| 1 | Warrior | 6y g | Joe Morrison | Robert Standish Sevior | Austin Saqui | 10/1 | 2 lengths | |
| 2 | The Monk | 5y h | William Enderson | James Henderson | 200/1 | 1 length | ||
| 3 | Phoebe | 6y m | Samuel Davis | Edward Lee | 20/1 | - | ||
| 4 | Sir John | 5y h | Finn | Jack Chaafe | 50/1 | - | ||
| 5 | Freetrader | 5y g | Swales | Mr E.T. Bernard | 50/1 | - | ||
| 6 | Palmerston | 5y h | Hubbard | William John Clarke | 50/1 | - | ||
| 7 | Aurora | 6y m | Chalker | Hurtle Fisher | 16/1 | - | ||
| 8 | Miss Constance | 4y m | Clarke Jr. | Mr C. Clarke | 100/1 | - | ||
| 9 | Strop | Aged g | S. Haynes | William Field | 8/1 | - | ||
| 10 | Circassian | 6y h | J. Brown | Mr W. Winch | 2/1 | - | ||
| 11 | Albany | 6y g | D. Mitchell | Hurtle Fisher | 20/1 | - | ||
| 12 | Charon | 3y c | H. Lewis | Hurtle Fisher | 10/1 | - | ||
| Coquette | 4y m | Bobby Waterman | Dan Melhado | 100/1 | - | |||
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