SOME NOTABLE MELBOURNE CUP WINNERS:

Archer (1861): Legend has it Archer walked from Sydney to Melbourne to win the new race that would be known as the Melbourne Cup. He came back the following year to win again.

Briseis (1876): The first time the race was run on the first Tuesday in November it was won by the three-year-old filly. Only one other of her age and sex, Sister Olive in 1921, has won the Cup.

Carbine (1890): No horse has carried more weight to win the Cup than Carbine who lugged 10st 5lb (66kg).

Phar Lap (1930): Regarded as the best horse ever to grace the Australian turf, Phar Lap was the shortest priced favourite at 8-11 to win.

Skipton (1941): The last three-year-old to win.

Comic Court (1950): As a strapper for his father Jim, a young Bart Cummings got his first taste of Melbourne Cup victory.

Baystone (1958): Barrier stalls were used for the first time in the 1958 Melbourne Cup.

Light Fingers (1965): The first of Bart Cummings' 12 Cup winners, Light Fingers remains his favourite mare to the this day.

Piping Lane (1972): The first metric Melbourne Cup over 3200 metres, 61.44 feet (18.7m) shorter than two miles.

Van Der Hum (1976): The New Zealander rewarded the punters who plunged on him heavily when he ploughed through the mud to win the wettest Cup on record.

Kiwi (1983): Produced a withering finish from near last on the turn to score a breathtaking victory.

What A Nuisance (1985): Beat Koiro Corrie May to win the first $1 million Melbourne Cup.

Empire Rose (1988): At her third try the giant New Zealand mare beat Natski in a thrilling photo-finish.

Kingston Rule (1990): Ran a record 3 minutes 16.3 seconds for the 3200 metres that still stands today.

Vintage Crop (1993): A pony-sized Irish horse who made trainer Dermot Weld the first European to prepare a Cup winner.

Saintly (1996): Known as the "Horse from Heaven", Saintly gave the Bart Cummings-Darren Beadman combination a second success after Kingston Rule.

Might And Power (1997): After a record-breaking Caulfield Cup win, Might And Power led all the way to hold off Doriemus and give Jack Denham the Cup he thought he had won with Natski.

Brew (2000): A lightweight ridden by a young Kerrin McEvoy who had just finished his apprenticeship. McEvoy now rides for Sheikh Mohammed.

Ethereal (2001): Her trainer Sheila Laxon became the first woman to train a Melbourne Cup winner when the Caulfield Cup winner edged out Sheikh Mohammed's Give The Slip.

Media Puzzle (2002): Just days after his brother's death in a riding accident, Damien Oliver carried the emotions of a nation and gave Dermot Weld his second cup.

Makybe Diva (2005): In a replica of her two previous wins, the grand mare made it three when she carried a record for her sex of 58 kilograms.

Delta Blues (2006): Beat stablemate Pop Rock to give the Japanese a history-making victory.

Efficient (2007): Became the first Victoria Derby winner since Phar Lap to come back as a four-year-old and claim the Cup.

Viewed (2008): The 12th of Bart Cummings' Cups, Viewed held on to beat English horse Bauer by a nose. It was the fourth win for his owner Dato Tan Chin Nam who raced Think Big (1974-75) and Saintly.

Americain (2010): A French horse bought by Australians to win the Cup duly delivered for trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre. The Mikael Delzangles-trained Dunaden repeated the French dose the following year.

Fiorente (2013): After running second in 2012, Fiorente delivered trainer Gai Waterhouse her first Melbourne Cup.

Prince Of Penzance (2015): The fairytale story of the 100-1 shot trained by a boy from the bush and ridden by a girl belies the hard work and dedication behind the win.

Darren Weir is a record-breaking trainer, Michelle Payne had already won more Group One races than any other female in Australia and Prince Of Penzance was a quality stayer whose career had been curtailed by injury.

Payne negotiated a path through the race she had gone over in her head many times before and it worked like a dream.