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Why it's a mammoth task for Al Riffa to win the Melbourne Cup
Gareth Hall • September 17th, 2025 11:48 am
Every year we seem to get carried away with the internationals heading to our great race, the Melbourne Cup.
Especially the horses at the top of the weights.
This year the boom horse is Al Riffa.
Trained by a young Irish master in Jospeh O’Brien - who has already won two Cups - and owned by Australian Bloodstock - a syndicate business that's also won two Cups - which apparently paid in excess of $4 million for the star stayer.
So they both know what horse you need to win the Cup.
So you can understand why he’s now at the top of the Cup market, especially after destroying his rivals in the Irish St Leger last Sunday.
But history tells us Al Riffa will have to be one of greats to win this year’s Cup.
In 1993 Vintage Crop won the Curragh Cup and Irish St Leger before creating history by becoming the first international horse to win the Melbourne Cup.
More than three decades later Al Riffa will attempt to do the same. In that time, NO horse has done what Vintage Crop did in '93. And a few good ones have tried.
Not only that, Vintage Crop beat the handicapper in '93 - he he only carried 55.5kg.
Al Riffa was allocated 59kg on Tuesday.
To put it in perspective, Vintage Crop won the Irish St Leger the next year and returned to Melbourne but this time he carried 60kg. He finished 7th behind Jeune as the 5 to 1 favourite.
In '95 he won the Curragh Cup, finished 4th in the St Leger and carried 59kg to finish 3rd in the Cup behind Doriemus and started 8 to 1.
Oscar Schindler won an Irish St Leger in '96 and came to Melbourne, started 4 to 1, carried 56.5kg and finished 15th behind Saintly.
The great Vinnie Roe won four straight St Legers in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
He competed in three Melbourne Cups, carried 59kg when he finished 3rd to Media Puzzle in '03 as favourite, finished 2nd to Makybe Diva in '04 starting 6 to 1 carrying 58kg, and also carried 58kg when 8th to the champion mare in '05.
Yeats - one of the very best stayers Aidan O'Brien has put a bridle on - finished 2nd in an Irish St Leger in '07.
He was a two-time G1 winner, which included an Ascot Gold Cup, before he competed in the Cup that year. He carried 59kg and finished 7th as the $6 favourite.
Yeats would win the St Leger the next year and would win three more Ascot Gold Cups - he never returned to Melbourne.
Septimus in '08 won the Curragh Cup and St Leger. He would start $7 in the Melbourne Cup, carried 58.5kg and finished 18th. Sadly, we haven’t seen Aidan O’Brien here since.
All those horses carried 61kg and 61.5kg in Irish St Legers before failing in the Cup.
Twilight Payment won the Curragh Cup in 2019 and ran 3rd in the Irish St Leger before leading all the way in the Melbourne Cup… but he carried 55.5kg that year.
He finished 2nd in the '08 St Leger but finished 11th carrying 58kg in the Cup behind Verry Elleegant.
So there you go… we know every year is different and Al Riffa is very good - but carrying 59kg around Flemington over two miles in Australia’s race will be his biggest challenge.
A challenge some of Ireland’s greatest champions have failed to conquer.
