[St. Albans / Breseis] The Melbourne Cup of 1876.

Engraving of the jockey, Peter St. Albans, Breseis and the famous Melbourne Cup for presented to the winner in 1876. Won by Peter St Albans (1864-1898), the youngest jockey ever to win the Melbourne Cup, riding Briseis at the recorded age of thirteen (he was actually eleven, eight days short of his twelfth birthday).

His record is unlikely to be beaten as he rode in the Melbourne Cup when he was under the stated minimum age of thirteen. He secured the mount for the three-year-old Briseis after the regular stable jockey could not make the featherweight of 6 stone and 4 pounds (39 kilos). Before 75,000 at Flemington Briseis, with St Albans in the saddle, comfortably won by one length in the biggest field of all time. “At 4 o’clock the starter released the 33 runners and they swept down the long Flemington straight in a thundering rush. Briseis, ridden by what one writer termed a mere child, (in the Cup) captured a rare double, the Victoria Race Club Derby and the Melbourne Cup. Shouts and hurrahs were heard, hats were thrown in the air and one excited individual fell on his back in the attempt to do a somersault. The boy who rode the winner was carried around the pack and is the hero of the day,” reported the Australasian Sketcher in 1876.

From the original edition of The Australasian Sketcher.

Collections:
State Library Victoria: Accession no: A/S 02/09/76/84