What horse colours have the most Melbourne Cup wins?

Wandering Eyes · October 31, 2022

The Melbourne Cup is one of the biggest betting events in world horse racing. The 2022 edition will go ahead on Tuesday, November 1.

The Melbourne Cup is a quality handicap open to thoroughbred horses aged three years and older, so it has always drawn a wide variety of runners. However, certain types of horses have fared markedly better than others over the years, and that applies to colour as well as sex and age.

You can learn about what colours have historically been the most dominant in the Melbourne Cup below, or see this the 2022 silks on our Melbourne Cup horses page.

Melbourne Cup winners by horse colour

Melbourne Cup statistics show that bay horses have won 73 of the 161 races to date, make it far and away the most successful colour in the event’s history. That dominance is especially pronounced in the modern era, as bays have won all but five Melbourne Cup titles since 2000.

Bay coloured horses have won 15 of the last 19 runnings of the Melbourne Cup.

Verry Elleegant (2021) was the last of 38 brown horses to win the race, Media Puzzle (2002) made it 34 for chestnut horses, and Efficient (2007) brought up only the sixth win for the greys. A pure black horse has not won the Melbourne Cup since Clean Sweep in 1900.

Melbourne Cup Winners By Horse Colour

Horse Colour	Wins	Last
Bay	73	2020
Brown	38	2021
Chestnut	34	2002
Grey	6	2007
Bay Or Brown	4	2010
Black	3	1900
Brown Or Black	2	1931

2022 Melbourne Cup Field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Odds
1	Gold Trip	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	14	57.5kg	$13
2	Duais	Edward Cummings	Hugh Bowman	10	55.5kg	$21
3	Knights Order	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	24	55.5kg	$21
4	Montefilia	David Payne	Jason Collett	11	55.5kg	$11
5	Numerian	Annabel Neasham	Tommy Berry	7	55.5kg	$61
6	Without A Fight	Simon & Ed Crisford	William Buick	18	55.5kg	$11
7	Camorra	Ben & JD Hayes	Ben Melham	17	55kg	$41
8	Deauville Legend	James Ferguson	Kerrin McEvoy	9	55kg	$3.80
9	Stockman	Joseph Pride	Sam Clipperton	2	54kg	$34
10	Vow And Declare	Danny O’Brien	Blake Shinn	4	54kg	$18
11	Young Werther	Danny O’Brien	Damian Lane	21	54kg	$26
12	Hoo Ya Mal	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Craig Williams	15	53.5kg	$21
13	Serpentine	Robert Hickmott	John Allen	23	53.5kg	$61
14	Daqiansweet Junior	Phillip Stokes	Daniel Moor	13	53kg	$51
15	Grand Promenade	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Harry Coffey	1	53kg	$61
16	Arapaho	Bjorn Baker	Rachel King	19	52.5kg	$101
17	Emissary	Mike Moroney	Patrick Moloney	3	51.5kg	$21
18	Lunar Flare	Grahame Begg	Michael Dee	12	51.5kg	$21
19	Smokin’ Romans	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jamie Kah	16	51.5kg	$21
20	Tralee Rose	Symon Wilde	Dean Yendall	22	51kg	$101
21	Point Nepean	Robert Hickmott	Wayne Lordan	20	51kg	$71
22	High Emocean	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Teo Nugent	8	50kg	$51
23	Interpretation	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Craig Newitt	6	50kg	$41
24	Realm Of Flowers	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Damien Thornton	5	50kg	$15