From Phar Lap to So You Think - Memsie Winners Who Dominated Spring

Kristen Manning

Editor

Last updated: Fri 28 Aug 2026 02:43

Kristen Manning 2 hours ago

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A look back at some of the greatest Memsie Stakes winners and what they achieved through the spring
Phar Lap, Comic Court, Rubiton, Sunline, Makybe Diva and So You Think all feature
Several turned Memsie success into memorable Group 1 campaigns later in the carnival

So You Think winning the 2010 Memsie Stakes. (Getty)

First run in 1899 as a "principal race" and held at Group 2 level from 1979 until its upgrade to its current Group 1 status in 2013, the Memsie Stakes has long been one of the key early-season races on the Victorian calendar.

1931 - Phar Lap
1949 & 1950 - Comic Court
1987 - Rubiton
2000 & 2001 - Sunline
2005 - Makybe Diva
2010 - So You Think

Its honour roll features some of the greatest names in Australian racing history, with champions across several generations using the 1400m weight-for-age contest as a springboard into bigger targets later in the carnival.

Two past winners - Mr Brightside and Treasurethe Moment - again take their place in the race this Saturday, adding another layer of interest to a contest that so often provides an early guide to the major spring features.

As Victoria's first Group 1 of the new season, the Memsie is always closely watched, with punters looking for the horses capable of making their mark through September, October and beyond.

So we thought we'd take a look back at some of the Memsie Stakes winners who went on to enjoy the most memorable springs.

1931 - Phar Lap

We go back in time to start this Memsie reminiscence with the horse of all horses - the legend that is Phar Lap.

Phar Lap was well and truly the established star of the Australian turf when he headed to Caulfield in September 1931. He'd won the Underwood Stakes as favourite first-up and was considered unbeatable second-up, sent out at 1/6.

He easily put 3 1/2 lengths on his rivals, with his stablemate Rondalina finishing second.

It was the last time Caulfield would play host to Phar Lap, with the Memsie forming part of his final Australian campaign. Wins in the Hill Stakes at Rosehill, Spring Stakes at Randwick, Craven Plate at Randwick, Randwick Plate, W.S. Cox Plate and Melbourne Stakes at Flemington made it eight in a row for the big chestnut that spring.

Sadly, a crushing weight made it impossible for him to make a winning farewell to Australia, with Phar Lap unplaced in the Melbourne Cup before his famous international success in the Agua Caliente. A few weeks later, he was gone.

1949 & 1950 - Comic Court

This grand galloper has to be mentioned as one of only two horses to win the Memsie Stakes and Melbourne Cup in the same year.

The Bart Cummings-trained entire had enjoyed a busy three-year-old spring, winning the VRC Derby while also contesting the W.S. Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.

At four, he really blossomed, winning the Memsie first-up en route to success in the Craiglee Stakes, placing in the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate before winning the Mackinnon Stakes.

He was well back in that year's Melbourne Cup, but the following year he again took out the Memsie first-up, also winning the Caulfield Stakes and Mackinnon Stakes before defeating Chicquita at Flemington by three lengths in record time, with Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-winning jockey Pat Glennon aboard.

Inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2009, Comic Court stood at stud and, out of his rival Chicquita, sired Melbourne Cup runner-up Comicquita, who finished second to Even Stevens.

1987 - Rubiton

What a spring this handsome son of Century enjoyed in 1987, with the Pat Barnes-trained entire heading to Caulfield as an odds-on favourite at his second run of the campaign, having blitzed his rivals in the Manikato Stakes.

He was 10-1 that day, his seven-length victory in race-record time ensuring he would never again be underestimated.

After the Memsie, Rubiton won the Feehan Stakes and Underwood Stakes before suffering a shock odds-on defeat in the Caulfield Stakes, having been a little too keen in his work in the lead-up.

He atoned in memorable fashion, overcoming two instances of interference to win the W.S. Cox Plate. He is one of only two winners of that race - Heroic, sire of Ajax, being the other - to later sire a Cox Plate winner, with Rubiton producing two-time champion Fields Of Omagh.

Rubiton ended his spring with victory in the Mackinnon Stakes - seven runs for the preparation and six wins.

Sadly, he was not to be seen again, injuring a tendon in his box just weeks before he was due to resume in the William Reid Stakes.

2000 & 2001 - Sunline

Having been so brilliant winning the Manikato Stakes first-up in August 2000, Sunline was already a six-time Group 1 winner when contesting the first of her two Memsies and, as an odds-on favourite, she was a dominant winner.

And what a spring she went on to have, winning the Feehan Stakes and finishing second to Fairway in the Turnbull Stakes before her stunning seven-length victory in her second W.S. Cox Plate.

From there she headed home to New Zealand to win a Group 1 over 1400m before her memorable clash with Fairy King Prawn in the Hong Kong International Mile.

Her following spring kicked off with a Manikato Stakes second - a shock defeat at the hands of Piavonic - before a soft second Memsie victory as an odds-on favourite. She then won the Turnbull Stakes before finishing second to Northerly in the Cox Plate.

Two outstanding springs in the career of a mare who achieved so much - 48 starts, 32 wins. A star!

2005 - Makybe Diva

The mighty mare who left us in February was 70-1 when she contested her first Memsie Stakes in 2004, finishing fourth behind Caulfield specialist Regal Roller.

At that stage, she was already considered one of Australia's best stayers, with the first of her three Melbourne Cups as well as a Sydney Cup under her belt, but her transition to weight-for-age star had not yet taken place.

That had changed by the time she lined up in the 2005 Memsie. By then, there was another Melbourne Cup on her record, as well as an Australian Cup and The BMW.

15-2 was on offer that day. She wouldn't start at such a price again.

Last on straightening as Regal Roller skipped clear along the rails, Makybe Diva charged.

"Makybe Diva with a flashing run," called Bryan Martin. "The great mare Makybe Diva's going to do it, a mighty return!"

Just nosed out by Lad Of The Manor in the Feehan Stakes second-up, Makybe Diva would have three more starts.

And she won them all - the Turnbull Stakes, W.S. Cox Plate and her historic third Melbourne Cup.

2010 - So You Think

Six spring starts in 2010, five wins and a Melbourne Cup third. That was some campaign enjoyed by the wonderful So You Think, who later headed to Ireland and, under the care of Aidan O'Brien, doubled his already impressive Group 1 tally.

Having missed the autumn carnival after winning his first Cox Plate at the age of three in just his fourth start, the oh-so-handsome entire rewarded his Memsie supporters at the juicy odds of 13/2.

He would be odds-on at his next four starts and a 2-1 favourite in the Melbourne Cup.

So You Think put both his heart and class on display in the Memsie, first reeling in reigning Australian Horse of the Year Typhoon Tracy before holding off a challenge from another high-class campaigner in Whobegotyou.

So You Think was invincible over the following months, winning the Underwood Stakes, Caulfield Stakes, a second Cox Plate and Mackinnon Stakes before his brave Melbourne Cup third.