IT has been 16 years since Rogan Josh, the unfashionable gelding named after an Indian food dish, won the 1999 Melbourne Cup for owner Wendy Green, jockey John Marshall and trainer Bart Cummings.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But this weekend in Gilgandra, tales of the horse's triumph will be told over and over when Marshall joins the famous trophy on its annual tour.
Gilgandra was chosen as one of 36 venues to host the cup, that started in the Queensland town Mount Isa and culminates with its arrival in Melbourne a week before the 'race that stops the nation' is run on Tuesday, November 3.
After touring parts of Queensland, New Zealand and even Malaysia, the Cup hit NSW soil on Tuesday with a launch in Sydney and on Friday the trophy will make its way to Gilgandra with Marshall in tow.
The Cup will visit a number of local schools and community groups, including St Joseph's School, Gilgandra Public School and Gilgandra High School, before travelling to Gilgandra Services Club, where residents will have the chance to welcome the famous trophy to their town.
A Melbourne Cup reception will be held on Friday night at the Gilgandra Racecourse bar.
Marshall will join the celebrations on the Friday night, and also at the Cooee Lodge Retirement Village and the local club's non-TAB race meeting on Saturday, sharing his tale of triumph with the local community.
continued page 22
Rogan Josh's win was a true Cup fairytale, with the gelding owned by a Northern Territory school teacher and doing his early racing in Western Australia before joining the Cummings stable after a narrow second in the 1999 Perth Cup.
He was rated a 250/1 chance when first betting markets were put up for the cup, but by the time Marshall hopped on his back on November 2 of that year he was a $6 chance based on his fourth placing in the Caulfield Cup and a surprise win in the Mackinnon Stakes three days before the big race.
It's now history that Rogan Josh went on to beat Godolphin horse Central Park in the cup, with Lahar and Zazabelle dead-heating for third place.
Gilgandra Jockey Club president Andrew Schier said the people of the town are looking forward to hosting the tour.
"We're delighted that this year's Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour is visiting Gilgandra," Schier said.
"There's a lot of excitement in the community around the arrival of the Cup."
Victoria Racing Club chief executive Simon Love said Gilgandra will be the Cup's first regional New South Wales visit on this year's tour.
"We're so pleased to be able to take the Emirates Melbourne Cup to the people of Central West NSW," he said.
"It's always a honour to visit other race clubs around Australia with our famous trophy, and we look forward to the opportunity to share it with the Gilgandra community."
