Melbourne Cup Jockeys 2024

While the central attention always falls on the horses that run the 3200m race, the Melbourne Cup jockeys play an exquisitely important role in the performance of their mounts. 

Jockeys are the ones who motivate and direct the runners, and the timeline of their career, the victories they’ve scored, or failures they’ve experienced is vital information that punters should be aware of before betting on the Cup. 

Bettors and spectators from Australia are already familiar with local names such as Kerrin McEvoy, Damien Oliver, and James McDonald, but foreign jockeys shouldn’t be overlooked, too, as they’ve achieved some extraordinary results in the race that stops the nation.

Keep reading to acquire all the vital Melbourne Cup horses and jockeys information in the upcoming paragraphs.

Jye McNeil

Coming from Victoria, Jye McNeil is famous among Melbourne Cup jockeys even though he started his career as recently as 2011. We’ll probably see more of him in the upcoming years, but he still has managed to score a victory in such a short time as a jockey. He rode Twilight Payment in 2020 and got to a glorious end in the first place.

Craig Williams

Craig Williams is known for being a member of a very productive duo, along with trainer David Hayes, who together scored 14 victories in Group 1 races until 2009. After these two had gone their separate ways, Craig Williams’s skills were still proven when winning the Cox Plate and many Caulfield Cups. Still, the most prestigious one was the victory at the Melbourne Cup in 2019, when he brought Vow and Declare first at the finishing line.

John Allen

Born and raised in Ireland, John Allen is a famous jockey that has resided in Australia since 2016. This Irish rider has led 17 horses in Group 1 races to victory and presently is in the second place in the Victoria Jockey Premiership, preceded only by Damian Lane. He has teamed up with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable. He still hasn’t scored a victory at the Cup, so his most memorable victories are the Cox Plate and Victoria Derby.

Damien Oliver

Not many Melbourne jockeys can boast of several victories in the most famous horse race in Australia, and Damien Oliver is one of the rare ones. He has won the Cup three times throughout his career, the first time being in 1995 on the back of Doriemus, the second time with Media Puzzle in 2002, and the most recent one in 2013 with Fiorente.

Ron Stewart

Ron Stewert isn’t experienced in riding mounts in the Melbourne Cup, although he has three notable winners in races from Group 1 throughout his career. This jockey that comes from Queensland is 38 years old, and he rode in the Cup for the first time in 2021, on top of Selino.

Daniel Stackhouse

Daniel Stackhouse is a New Zealander who has brought victory to 87 winners in Victoria in the season of 2020, which got him to finish at the 6th place in the Premiership list. This Kiwi jockey is yet to fight for his first win in Group 1 races.

Blaike McDougall

Blake McDougall is 28 years old, currently weighing 53 kg, with a total of 662 wins throughout his career. We have seen this veteran jockey on the back of serious horses coming from reputable stables, but he still hasn’t been able to score a win in Group 1 races. In 2021, he rode the Melbourne Cup on top of Carif.

Rachel King

The only Melbourne Cup female jockey in 2021, Rachen King went to make some history and record the second time a woman has turned out victorious besides Michelle Payne, who has won the Cup in 2015 on top of Prince of Penzance. She didn’t succeed, though, riding on top of Pondus in 2021.

Patrick Moloney

The duo of Patrick and Jim Molouney is known to many Aussie punters and spectators. This 27-year-old jockey who regularly rides for his uncle Jim has managed to acquire 62 wins in Victoria last season. Still, he has never won a Group 1 race, and the losing streak continued in the Cup in 2021, on top of Miami Bound.

Craig Newitt

Coming from a family of jockeys, where both his father and his mother rode horses for a living, it’s no wonder how Craig Newitt is among the most prominent jockeys in Australia at the moment.

Having chained successes when partnered up with the Mick Price stable, the highlight of his career was probably the winning of the 2015 Victoria Derby, when he rode Tarzino. Some find it surprising that Craig never showed particular success during Melbourne Cup races.

Teo Nugent

Teodore Nugget is a great local apprentice in the season of 2020/21 who has partnered up with stables such as Maher/Eustace and Gai Waterhouse. He has gained one win in Group 1 races just recently in 2021, on top of Portland Sky in the Oakleigh Plate, an 11m race. In 2021, he rode Floating Artist in the Cup.

Glen Boss

Glen Boss is a holder of a very prestigious Melbourne Cup record – he has brought the same mare to victory three times in the last 150+ years. Almost everyone who watches or bets on the Cup in recent years associates Glen with Makybe Diva, the mare that took the Cup home in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Besides this, this low-weight jockey has 90 other wins in Group 1 races.

Female Jockeys

Although not as many as men, Melbourne Cup female jockeys have also been present in the field, with the first ever to ride a runner participant was a Kiwi jockey named Maree Lyndon. She rode a horse named Argonaut Style in 1987, and she ended up in the penultimate place out of 21 participants. 

On the other hand, the first Australian female jockey in the Melbourne Cup was Clare Lindop, on top of Debben in 2003. 

The only victorious out of the female jockeys up to date is Michelle Payne, who won the Cup on top of Prince of Penzance.

Melbourne Cup winners by the colour of silks

Many punters believe that the colour of silks the riders wear may affect the outcome of the race and place the so-called omen bets. So, for those who love betting on the Melbourne Cup jockey colours, we provide statistics of the winning colours in the table below.