1878 Melbourne Cup

The 1878 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1878.
This year was the eighteenth running of the Melbourne Cup. Won by five-year-old Calamia, it was the fifth time a horse trained by Etienne de Mestre had won the Melbourne Cup.
1877 cup winner Chester fell and collided with a post during the race. Chester's veteran jockey Joe Morrison was seriously injured in the fall, suffering a badly broken leg, an injury from which he never really recovered.
Highly fancied runner First King had suffered an injury prior to the race and had to be withdrawn by James Wilson ahead of the day of the race, while previous year's winner Chester had shown good form again in the lead-up, winning the Melbourne Stakes on the Saturday before the Melbourne Cup, easily beating both Cap-a-pie and Device. Savanaka, who had come second the previous year was not well-backed by its stable a year later, eventually being withdrawn from the race on the day. Columbus had been heavily backed following the Victoria Derby which was won by Wellington. But the most backed runner was Wilson's Melita, taking favouritism ahead of Wellington and Firebell. Many believed that Chester would be able to repeat its win from the year before.
Cup Day dawned under grey skies, but brightened as the morning progressed, and by the time the race was run the weather had turned to pleasant sunshine, albeit with a cool wind. Following a number of withdrawals, 30 runners were sent to the start. Rapidity jumped clear after the flag fell, leading the field for more than the first mile of the race, Tom Kirk the only runner to match the speed of the leader. When Chester fell rounding a post, its jockey Joe Morrison was badly injured. The fall caused Glengarry to bolt inside the course. Wellington and Fireball looked in good position as the field tried to catch Rapidity, but it was Calamia that lead from beyond the final turn to ease home win by more than two lengths. Tom Kirk and Waxy finished in the minor placings, while the favourite Melita was never really in the race, having been run wide around much of the course.
For jockey Thomas Brown it was his first win in the Melbourne Cup. He would return as a trainer to win the race in 1880 with Grand Flaneur. The fifth win in the race for Etienne de Mestre confirmed his standing as Australia's first outstanding racehorse trainer, and his stables at Terrara near Nowra to be the finest in the country. In typical style, de Mestre had backed his other runner Firebell to win the race, despite expressing confidence in Calamia.
As a three-year-old, Calamia had previously won the Randwick Plate over three miles, as well as the Canterbury Plate. In other races, Calamia finished second in the VRC Champion Stakes and the Australian Cup. It was unplaced in a number of races earlier in 1878, having not raced since the autumn race meetings in Sydney.
Attendances at the racecourse were estimated to be at a similar level to the previous years, with thousands of visitors from the other colonies making their way to Melbourne. Reporters questioned whether the VRC would need to extend the grandstands before the next running of the Melbourne Cup as "for every additional mile of railway that is constructed to connect the country districts with Melbourne an increase in the number of visitors at carnival times may be expected."

Full results

This is the list of placegetters for the 1878 Melbourne Cup.

Place	Horse	Age Gender	Jockey	Weight	Trainer	Owner	Odds	Margin
1	Calamia	5y h	Thomas Brown		Etienne de Mestre	Etienne de Mestre	10/1	2½ lengths
2	Tom Kirk	7y h	William Murphy		Ike Carslake	Mr C. James	33/1	1¼ lengths
3	Waxy	6y h	Braithwaite		Ike Carslake	James Liddell Purves	16/1	-
4	Swiveller	4y h	William Yeomans		Walter Hickenbotham	Charles Madden Lloyd	25/1	-
5	Wellington	3y c	J. King			Edward Alfred Johnson-Boe	8/1	-
6	Strathearn	4y h	C. Gordon		John Tait	John Tait	33/1	-
7	Newminster	5y h	Brickwood Colley			Andrew Chirnside	25/1	-
8	Glenormiston	4y h	George Williams		William Filgate	William Filgate	25/1	-
9	K.C.B.	3y c	Emsworth		John Tait	John Tait	50/1	-
10	Warlock	3y c	R. Walker			Mr J. Paterson	33/1	-
11	Lockleys	4y h	John Kilduff		Tom Jordan	Tom Jordan	33/1	-
12	Riverton	3y c	C. Hutchins			John Whittingham	50/1	-
	Cap-a-pie	4y h	W. Huxley			Mr G. Hill	20/1	-
	Macaroni	6y g	Paddy Pigott			Thomas Ivory	20/1	-
	Rapidity	4y h	Weston			Mr W. Brown	33/1	-
	Burwood	8y g	Samuel Davis			Mr S. Bradbury	50/1	-
	Columbus	6y h	T. Aspinall			Edward Alfred Johnson-Boe	16/1	-
	Devilshoof	4y h	Pearson			Joe Thompson	100/1	-
	The King	6y h	William Samuel Cox Jr			William Samuel Cox	50/1	-
	Darriwell	4y h	Sam Cracknell			William Algernon Guesdon	20/1	-
	Emily	3y f	J. Williamson			Hercules Robinson	16/1	-
	Glengarry	5y h	Donald Nicholson			Louis Lawrence Smith	100/1	-
	Auckland	4y h	Cornwell			Mr A.E. Cornwell	12/1	-
	Melita	3y f	Peter St Albans		James Wilson	Henry J. Bowler	4/1	-
	Numa Pompilius	4y g	G. Poole			Mr C.G. Baldock	100/1	-
	Firebell	4y h	G. Burton			William Samuel Cox	8/1	-
	Pride Of The Vale	3y f	Geoghegan			Mr R.T. Reid	100/1	-
	Franciscan	3y c	J. Deasy		Stephen Mahon	Stephen Mahon	100/1	-
	Device	4y m	Tom Hales		Tom Jordan	William Pile	50/1	-
Fell	Chester	4y h	Joe Morrison		Etienne de Mestre	James White	12/1	-
	Savanaka	4y h			James Wilson	Herbert Power	16/1	-
	Democrat	5y h			Etienne de Mestre	James White	-	-
	His Lordship	3y c				Charles Brown Fisher	-	-
	Vulcan	3y c			Etienne de Mestre	Etienne de Mestre	-	-
	Roodee	3y c			Etienne de Mestre	James White	-	-
	Jasper	3y c			Etienne de Mestre	Etienne de Mestre	-	-
	Murrabinna	4y h				John Crozier Jr	-	-
	Coongoola	3y c				Mr F. Williams	-	-
	Lillian	3y f				Mr W. Kite	-	-

Prizemoney

First prize £1790, second prize £50, third prize £20.