The 1978 Melbourne Cup was a handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 7 November 1978 over 3200m, at Flemington Racecourse.
The race was won by the New Zealand bred gelding Arwon, trained by George Hanlon and ridden by Harry White. The runner up was Dandaleith, trained by A P Pringle, and third place went to Karu trained by J Holme. The winning margin was a short neck with a further neck to third place. Dandaleith was ridden by the 16 year old Toby Autridge.
Background
Arwon started his career in New Zealand where he was raced under the name Flash Guy. After one win there he was purchased for $18,000 by the Doon Brothers Syndicate and moved to the Canberra stable of John Morrissey. The name Arwon was a reversal of the New South Wales town Nowra. He was only transferred to George Hanlon four months before the Melbourne Cup and was placed 2nd behind Ming Dynasty in the Metropolitan Handicap. Arwon also won the 1978 Herbert Power Handicap and the 1980 Sandown Cup.
This win was the second Melbourne Cup victory for George Hanlon, his previous success was the outsider Piping Lane in the 1972 Melbourne Cup.
It was the third of four Melbourne Cup wins for Harry White, he also won on Think Big (1974 and 1975) and subsequently Hyperno (1979) for Bart Cummings. Arwon's regular jockey Gary Willetts was unfortunate to miss the ride due to a suspension.New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Annual 1979 (8th edition).Costello, John, Editor. Moa Publications, Auckland, New Zealand.
Field
The following are the placegetters in the 1978 Melbourne Cup.
PlaceHorseWeight (kg)OddsTrainerJockey1stArwon50.55-1George HanlonHarry White2ndDandaleith50.520-1A P PringleToby Autridge3rdKaru4840-1J HolmeWarwick Robinson 4thBoldness 50 20-1 A G Clarke 5th So Called 54.5 9-2 B Thompson6th Jury52 25-1 A Treveno 7thBig Skipper 51 12-1 John Stocker8th Valadero 51.5 33-1 G Palmer9th Our Big Gamble 53.5 12-1 B Compton10th Panamint 56 9-1 Roy Higgins11th Vive Velours 4810-1 Johnny Letts12th Lefroy 54.5 40-1 B Andrews13th Belmura Lad 52.5 25-1 P Trotter14th Rain Circle 50 25-1 M Doningo15th Becidium 49 50-1 R Quinton16th Taksan 55.5 10-1 J Duggan 17thRang Again 4933-1 L Masters18th Bilgola Boy 48 400-1 D Green19th Drumshambo 49 125-1 K Mitchell 20thStormy Rex 5540-1 K Langby 21st Decelea49 250-1 M Broadfoot22nd Massuk 48.5 66-1 G MurphyScratched Lady Athenaia n/a Scratched Mainspring n/a
References