What A Nuisance: The 1985 Cup

Forty years ago, then-Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, were at the course to witness history in the making when the Melbourne-trained What A Nuisance surged in the final stride to defeat the New Zealander Koiro Corrie May, with Tasmanian-trained Tripsacum finishing third.

This race marked the first sponsored Melbourne Cup, courtesy of Foster’s, and the first time a million-dollar prize pool was offered in Australian racing, let alone in the history of the race. There was much to admire about this victory.

It would become one of the last Melbourne Cup winners trained out of the Epsom Training Centre and was the first Cup win for veteran jockey Pat Hyland and trainer John Meagher. Meagher’s father, John Leslie Meagher – a Changi prisoner of war survivor – trained Saxony to finish third in the 1948 Melbourne Cup, won by Rimfire.

This victory was a turning point for Meagher, who had honed his craft around Epsom and Mentone with mentors including trainers George McCormick, Bill Murrell, and Bob Clarton. The win allowed him to expand his burgeoning stables, and by 1989, he had moved from Epsom to Chicquita Lodge at Flemington. Like most trainers who secure a Melbourne Cup winner, his numbers grew rapidly.

It was a fitting victory for jockey Pat Hyland, who was nearing the end of his career after returning from a brutal fall just 18 months earlier, an injury that almost prompted retirement. But thanks to his wife Maree’s encouragement, he continued racing. Just a year prior, he had already secured a feature win in the Caulfield Cup aboard Affinity (1984).

Hyland had been associated with many top-performing horses, but none as notable as Vain, trained by Jim Moloney. Vain was a flying machine, winning the 1969 STC Golden Slipper Stakes and triumphing on three of the four days during the 1969 Melbourne Cup Carnival.

As for What A Nuisance, he was an aged gelding who overcame health issues to triumph in the 1985 Cup. At seven years old, he nearly shifted to a jumping career, but improved performances on the flat redirected him to Melbourne’s spring features.

He had won the 1984 VRC Duke of Norfolk Stakes (3200m) and showed further promise at Flemington with a second place in the Navy Day Handicap (now The Lexus Bart Cummings) on 1985 Turnbull Stakes day.

He followed this with a fourth in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup behind Butternut. With an assigned weight of 52.5kg, he seemed well-weighted for a seven-year-old with a solid two-mile record, explaining the 10/1 odds in the betting market. He raced against notable winners like Kiwi (1983) and Black Knight (1984). The George Hanlon-trained Our Sophia was a strong favourite at 9/2.

As for owner Lloyd Williams, this was his second victory in the coveted 3200-metre race, though certainly not his last. The win only stoked his passion for Australia’s greatest race, paving the way for a significant influx of internationally bred and raced imports.

Williams would go on to win multiple Melbourne Cups with his supporters: in 2007 (Efficient), 2012 (Green Moon), 2016 (Almandin), 2017 (Rekindling), and 2020 (Twilight Payment) – a record for any owner in Cup history. Other owners’ records include Etienne De Mestre, John Tait, and Dato Tan Chin Nam, each with four wins.

It was not the last time Mr Williams met the future reigning monarch. In 2012, the future King Charles and Queen Camilla presented the Melbourne Cup at Flemington when Green Moon saluted for jockey Brett Prebble.

Moreover, 1985 marked the first year the Tommy Woodcock Trophy was awarded to the winning strapper of a Melbourne Cup winner. The Prince and Princess of Wales presented it to Craig Patmore. Tommy Woodcock, the legendary strapper of Phar Lap and trainer of Reckless, passed away earlier that year. The trophy was renamed in his honour the following year.