FEATURE
Writing the record books From Phar Lap’s
jockey to the Queen of the Cups, these thirteen Australian riders didn’t just win races – they changed history.
WORDS CELIA PURDEY
Damien Oliver Career: 1988–2023
Retired with 129 Australian Group 1 wins – the most in history at the time – across a 35-year career that yielded 3,189 wins in total. Won the Melbourne Cup three times, the Caulfield Cup four times, the Cox Plate twice and the Golden Slipper once, completing the Australian grand slam. Won the Melbourne Jockeys’ Premiership ten times and the Scobie Breasley Medal a record 14 times, becoming the most successful Melbourne Cup Carnival rider of all time with 26 Group 1 wins across the four days.
52 | 2026 OFFICIAL SOUVENIR MAGAZINE
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