Three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva dies aged 27
Makybe Diva (Desert King), the only horse in history to win three Melbourne Cups (Gr 1, 3200m), has died at the age of 27.
Owner-breeder Tony Santic confirmed on Saturday that the multiple Group 1-winning champion had succumbed to a bout of colic.
“From the day she came into our lives, she was never just a racehorse, she was family,” Santic said.
“She gave us moments Australia will never forget, but more than that, she gave us joy every single day. She was loved from the beginning, and she stayed loved for her whole life.”
While Makybe Diva will forever be synonymous with the Melbourne Cup, her record extended well beyond Flemington. Her 15 wins included the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) and Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) among 36 starts.
Glen Boss, who partnered Makybe Diva in her three Melbourne Cup victories in 2003, 2004 and 2005, said her impact transcended racing.
“I’ll be drinking out of the Cups tonight and thinking about her and what she’s done for Australian racing and Australian sport. There will be champagne flowing out of the Cups for her tonight,” Boss told Racing.com.
“When I saw her a few months ago, she was looking so good and healthy, but I couldn’t help but feel as I left her that this could be the last time.
“I definitely had that feeling I might not ever see her again. I would have loved to have seen her one more time, but we sort of had our goodbye in a way.”
Boss said he had visited the mare regularly at Santic’s Gnarwarre property in Victoria.
“I’ve been going to see her at least once or twice a year. You have time with them and I’m sure she does [remember me] but it’s more about spending time with her and being mates. I had such admiration for her,” he said.
“Now she’s gone, what a gift she was to Australia. Her performances went beyond our sport.
“You had the Kingston Town era, but I can’t think of a horse before her that captured the public imagination so completely. She left such a big mark on Australian sport and not just racing. I was so lucky that she came into my life.
“After she won the Cox Plate in 2005, she was on every front page, middle page and back page. Then she won a third Melbourne Cup ten days later and she took over the front, middle and back pages again.
“That’s what the champions do. They defy logic, they defy the clock and they defy the handicaps sometimes.
“Even younger people that weren’t even born when she raced, they understand what she did. She left such a big footprint in sport in Australia that it’s impossible not to know of her and what she achieved.
“Tony [Santic] owns three of the most iconic trophies in Australian sport. You’ve got the Ashes and the Baggy Greens but collectively, those are the most prized trophies in Australian sport because it will never be done again.
“It’s mathematically and logistically almost impossible to do what she’d done. That is the gravity of that moment when she won her third Cup.”
Bred in England, Makybe Diva was out of the twice-raced Riverman (Never Bend) mare Tugela, who was purchased in foal by Santic’s bloodstock agent John Foote for 60,000gns at the 1998 Tattersalls Mares Sale.
The resulting filly failed to meet her reserve when offered as a foal the following year and was retained before being sent to Australia.
Makybe Diva was immature as a young horse and did not make her racetrack debut until three days before her fourth birthday, finishing fourth in a Benalla maiden. What followed was an emphatic statement of ability — six consecutive victories, culminating in wins in the Werribee Cup (Listed, 2000m) and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 3, 2500m) at Flemington.
It would take another 12 months before she returned to the winner’s stall — and that win would be her first Melbourne Cup in 2003. Starting at $8, Makybe Diva carried just 51 kilograms under Boss and powered away to claim the great race for David Hall.
The following year, Hall accepted a training position in Hong Kong, and Makybe Diva was transferred to Lee Freedman. After another lean autumn campaign, she rediscovered her form at her final run of the preparation, capturing the Sydney Cup.
Back to her best in the spring of 2004, she was narrowly beaten by Elvstroem (Danehill) in the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) — a nose defeat that proved a blessing in disguise, allowing her to enter the Melbourne Cup with 55.5 kilograms. Once again, Boss timed his run to perfection as she stormed home to secure back-to-back Cups.
In 2005, Makybe Diva added weight-for-age greatness to her résumé. She claimed the Australian Cup in record time and, just seven days later, delivered a memorable victory in the Tancred Stakes.
A two-start campaign in Japan followed, where firm tracks did not suit her. Returning to Australia mid-winter, she began preparation for what would become her final and most famous campaign.
She resumed with victory in the Memsie Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), was luckless when second in the Feehan Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m), then produced a powerful late surge to win the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m). From there she conquered the Cox Plate before heading to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup with a crushing 58 kilograms.
No mare had ever carried such weight to victory in the Cup, but it mattered little. Makybe Diva again out-stayed her rivals to complete an unprecedented third consecutive Melbourne Cup triumph. Moments after the historic three-peat, Santic announced her retirement during the Cup presentation.
For the 2004/05 season, she was named Australia’s Champion Racehorse, a title she retained the following year, She was also crowned Champion Stayer twice, as well as earning Champion Filly/Mare honours. Her 58 kilograms in 2005 remains the highest weight carried to Melbourne Cup victory by a mare.
Her achievements were swiftly immortalised. She was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2006 and elevated to Legend status in 2010.
With her third Melbourne Cup win in 2005 — which proved to be her final race start — Makybe Diva became just the fifth multiple winner of the Cup, first run in 1861. The others were Archer (William Tell) (1861, 1862), Peter Pan (Pantheon) (1932, 1934), Rain Lover (Latin Lover) (1968, 1969) and Think Big (Sobig) (1974, 1975).
The enormity of her achievement was captured by Freedman in the moments after her record-breaking victory:
“Go find the smallest child on this course, and there will be the only example of a person who will live long enough to see that again.”
Statues of Makybe Diva now stand at Flemington and Port Lincoln in tribute to her deeds.
Her breeding career, however, did not reach the same heights as her racing exploits. She produced nine named foals, none of whom achieved stakes success.
Makybe Diva lived out her days at Santic’s Gnarwarre property, west of Geelong — forever remembered as the only horse to win three consecutive Melbourne Cups, a feat that continues to define Australian racing history.
Foaled: 21 March 1999
Sire: Desert King (Ire) (Danehill)
Dam: Tugela (Riverman)
Breeder: Makybe (Mrs Tony Santic), Great Britain
Owner: Tony Santic
Trainer: David Hall (early career), Lee Freedman
Record: 36 starts – 15 wins, 4 seconds, 3 thirds
Prize-money: A$14,526,685
Major Achievements
3x G1 Melbourne Cup – 2003 (51kg), 2004 (55.5kg), 2005 (58kg)
G1 Cox Plate – 2005
G1 Australian Cup – 2005
G1 BMW (Tancred Stakes) – 2005
G1 Sydney Cup – 2004
G1 Turnbull Stakes – 2005