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TALKING STAMPS
WITH RICHARD BRECKON
The Melbourne Cup Cu up uup on stamps
The 1960 fi five ve pence pencee e( (5d) stamp particularly particul cularly
poor weather by three
issued to mark the 100th 00 h running i lengths. l h The jockey in 1934 was
of the Melbourne Cup involved Darby Munro, who was depicted
considerable controversy. The on the 22c stamp in the 1981
suggestion to honour the event Sports Personalities issue. Munro
came from the Victoria Racing also rode Cup winners Sirius
Club. After some resistance (1944) and Russia (1946).
associated with concerns about
gambling, the Post Offi ce agreed The 1978 Horse Racing stamps
to a stamp.
proved popular with the racing
fraternity and supplies of 35c, 50c
and 55c stamps were inadequate
necessitating a reprint of all three.
(It is unusual for non-defi nitive
stamps to be reprinted.)
When the Melbourne Cup stamp
was issued, there were the
expected objections and some
religious leaders even called for
the stamp to be withdrawn from
sale or for public boycotting.
The stamp was designed by Frank
Manley, who had recently retired
as chief artist/engraver at the Note
Printing Branch and had joined
the Post Offi ce’s Stamp Advisory
Committee. Manley’s design
depicted Archer and jockey John
Cutts (the winning combination
of the fi rst two Cups), and a
representation of the race trophy.
The 1978 Horse Racing stamp
issue featured four famous
racehorses, including Pharlap and
Peter Pan, chosen in consultation
with racecaller Bill Collins OAM
(1928–1997). The stamps were
the fi rst to be designed by Brian
Clinton, one of Australia’s most
prolifi c stamp designers.
Perhaps the most legendary and
charismatic horse in Australian
racing, Phar Lap won the 1930
Melbourne Cup. Starting the race
as an 11/8 favourite, he became
the shortest priced winner in the
Cup’s history. Peter Pan won
in 1932 after almost falling and
would also win the 1934 Cup in
24 | stamp bulletin australia | no. 307 | November– December 2010
Following the launch of Australia’s
Racing Hall of Fame in 2001,
Australia Post issued Champions
of the Turf in 2002, comprising
fi ve 45c stamps featuring horses
that were inducted into the Hall
of Fame that year: Wakeful,
Rising Fast, Manikato, Might and
Power, and Sunline. The stamp
illustrations, the work of Otto
Schmidinger, depicted different
moments in a race, and convey
the speed, colour, energy and
atmosphere of a race meeting.
Two of these horses were
Melbourne Cup winners, these
being Rising Fast and Might and
Power. In 1954 Rising Fast won
the Caulfi eld Cup, the WS Cox
Plate and the Melbourne Cup,
making it the only horse in race
history to win the treble in the
same year.
The 2007 Australia Post Australian
Legends celebrated six greats of
horse racing – Scobie Breasley
AM, Bart Cummings AM, Roy
Higgins MBE, Bob Ingham AO,
George Moore OBE and John
Tapp OAM.
Bart Cummings (the (h (the “Cups “C
“Cu
King”) trained an astounding 12
Melbourne Cup winners - Light
Fingers (1965), Galilee (1966), Red
Handed (1967), Think Big (1974
and 1975), Gold and Black (1977),
Hyperno (1979), Kingston Rule
(1990), Let’s Elope (1991), Saintly
(1996), Rogan Josh (1999) and
Viewed (2008).
Jockey Roy Higgins rode two
Melbourne Cup winners – Light
Fingers (1965) and Red Handed
(1967). Light Fingers is depicted
on one of the two 2007 Legends
stamps issued for Higgins.
With the 2010 150th Melbourne
Cup stamp issue three Cup
winners have been honoured, two
of them never having appeared on
a stamp before – Carbine (1890),
Phar Lap (1930) and Saintly (1996).
Phar Lap’s bloodline can be traced
back to Carbine through both his
sire (father) and dam (mother).
Although Saintly was one of 12
Cup wins for Bart Cummings,
the horse is the trainer’s most
beloved.
Featured stamps (left to right)
1960 5d 100th Melbourne Cup
2002 45c Rising Fast
1981 22c Darby Munro
1978 50c Phar Lap
2007 50c Bart Cummings
(holding Cup)
2007 55c Roy Higgins
(riding Light Fingers)