1977 Paleface Adios

The “Temora Tornado” as he was known was eight years old when he won the Victoria Cup – or as it was then known, the Winfield Cup.

Paleface Adios and trainer/driver Colin Pike copped plenty of pressure in the lead but were able to hold off fellow stars Pure Steel and Rip Van Winkle in a tight finish.

It was his 80th victory in a stellar career which amassed a total of 108 wins. He raced until the ripe old age of 11 before he was retired in 1981.

1980 Koala King

Having won the Victoria Cup in 1978 and 1979, Koala King was champion of the Grand Circuit, but his third victory in 1980 was the most incredible of all.

Heading into the event unbeaten in his previous eight starts, driver Brian Hancock positioned him perfectly in the one-one behind Pure Steel leading the outside runners.

In a driving finish, he just got up to beat “Steelo” by a neck to become the only horse to win three Victoria Cups.

1982 Popular Alm

In the early eighties, Popular Alm and his driver Vin Knight were as well-known as any sports figure in Australia. “Poppy” was a combination of the most lethal speed and brutal strength.

After winning the Victoria Cup of 1982, Popular Alm went on to dominate the ’83 season, including winning the Miracle Mile in Sydney against his arch-rival Gammalite. It set up a mouth-watering narrative for the 1983 Victoria Cup and the victory was nothing short of spectacular.

Subsequently, Popular Alm was crippled by a leg injury before returning to Moonee Valley a year later in front of a capacity crowd, who still had his ’83 Cup in their hearts and minds.

1984 Preux Chevalier

West Australian superstar Preux Chevalier was the third richest prizemoney earner behind Gammalite and Popular Alm in the ’83-’84 seasons, which illustrates the elite company he was in. However, the year in which he won the Victoria Cup, he was in rare air.

He raced 21 times during the season for 18 wins and three placings, and this Victoria Cup was special for “The Frog” and trainer/driver Barry Perkins.

To this day, Preux Chevalier is the only pacer to win harness racing’s “Big Four” – the Victoria Cup, AG Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion.

1988 Bag Limit

Vin Knight and Bag Limit might have had a famous victory in the Victoria Cup of 1987, but the 1988 win goes down in the race’s folklore.

After a dismal performance a week earlier, his dominant performance prompted the massive crowd in attendance to boo Vin on return to the presentation area for around 10 minutes before, during and after the presentations had taken place, angry at the massive form reversal.

Vin was fined by HRV stewards for his comments but endeared himself to many others for his passion and irreverence.

1991 Sinbad Bay

Sinbad Bay would provide the last victory for the great Vin and Bob Knight in the Victoria Cup.

Sinbad Bay dominated the 1989 Winfield Gold Cup, then two years later he won the 1991 Victoria Cup and there seemed no limit to what he could achieve.

Devastatingly, he then suffered two bowed tendons - not once but twice! This saw him away from the racetrack for three years.

Nursed by Sue Dove and her husband Stephen, he went on to race as a 12-year-old and was desperately unlucky not to record a third Victoria Cup victory in 1995 at age 11.

1993 Master Musician

When Kiwis Robert Dunn and his star Master Musician combined to win the Victoria Cup, it was against the who’s who of Australasian harness racing of the early 1990s.

Names like Westburn Grant, Jack Morris, Level Advice, Its Motor Power and Blossom Lady combined to provide a mighty opposition, but Dunn’s drive was as good as it gets and helped the New Zealand pacer etch his name among the greats.

1995 Golden Reign

Widely regarded as the greatest field ever assembled, the ’95 edition boasted previous winners Master Musician and Sinbad Bay and behind them were superstars Blossom Lady and Exceptionally Smooth, along with Kiwi megastars Chokin and Desperate Comment.

Despite drawing the back row, an aggressive drive from Chris Alford provided another magical Group 1 moment for he and trainers Noel Alexander and Jayne Davies.

1997 Desperate Comment

Prior to 1997, only four horses had won multiple harness racing Victoria Cups. They were Koala King (1978, 1979 and 1980), Popular Alm (1982 and 1983), Bag Limit (1987 and 1988) and Sinbad Bay (1989 and 1991).

Despite his horse being an 11-1 shot, Kiwi trainer Cran Dalgety would have had every confidence in '97 that his 1996 Victoria Cup winner Desperate Comment could go back-to-back because “Spike”, as he was affectionately known, was a warrior.

A year prior, Peter Jones had steered Desperate Comment to success in the Victoria Cup over Burlington Bertie and Norms Daughter. Now the great Graeme Lang was in the gig behind the Kiwi superstar.

2000 Breenys Fella

The famous Demmler name joined the race's honour roll in 2000 when the Ted Demmler-trained and Kiwi-bred Breeny’s Fella took out the first Cup of the century.

A stacked field saw Breeny’s Fella succeed over Inter Dominion champion Shakamaker and grand pacers Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire thanks to a brilliant Craig Demmler drive.

2001 Shakamaker

After taking out harness racing’s ultimate prize in 2000, the Inter Dominion, the Brian Gath-driven Shakamaker gave the “Little Master” another Victoria Cup to add to his resume.

The Infamous Dan Mielicki call of “here comes Shaka!” reverberated around Moonee Valley as the John Justice-trained pacer edged out stablemate Safe and Sound in a thrilling finish.

2003 Young Rufus

2003 saw two runnings of the great race with Young Rufus taking out the first in February.

The Purdons had already left their mark on the Victoria Cup thanks to Holmes D G in 1999, with Barry saluting on that occasion. And now Mark could add his name to the honour roll thanks to a front-running performance that left the Valley crowd wanting more.

2006 Blacks A Fake

It would be wrong if champion gelding Blacks A Fake didn’t add a Victoria Cup to his illustrious resume.

The Natalie Rasmussen-prepared short-priced favourite led throughout to take out the 2006 edition.

Blacks A Fake had to hold off Flashing Red and Robin Hood, who kept coming despite being wide at various stages of the race.

2007 Robin Hood

2007 was redemption for Robin Hood after a third-placed finish the previous year, with the Peter Tonkin-trained horse giving champion reinsman Gavin Lang his first Victoria Cup.

Lang was composed after being shuffled back to midfield in the early stages and let the son of Fake Left loose in the concluding stages to win by just over a metre on the line.

2010 Mr Feelgood

The US import is perhaps best known as the horse that stopped Blacks A Fake winning five-straight Inter Dominion crowns with his victory on the Gold Coast for Tim and Anthony Butt in 2009, but his triumph in the 2010 Victoria Cup was perhaps even more impressive.

Trainer-driver Luke McCarthy had a crack for the front through the early stages of the race, and despite not finding it, the son of Grinfromeartoear sat parked to crush his rivals in a mile rate of 1:55.9.

It proved one of the crowning glories in Mr Feelgood’s career and backed up his Hunter Cup success from 2009.

2011 Smoken Up

Smoken Up's triumph in the 2011 Victoria Cup was a breakthrough of sorts after finishing runner-up in the race in both 2007 and 2009, and then sixth behind Mr Feelgood in 2010.

Lance Justice's champion pacer was a warm favourite in betting and produced his best with an all-the-way win over the defending champion.

Smoken Up would compete in the Victoria Cup twice more without success, finishing his career in September of 2014 with 74 victories from 153 starts.

2012 Caribbean Blaster

It was a long-odds result in the 2012 Victoria Cup as Andy and Kate Gath combined to win the race with $30 outsider Caribbean Blaster.

Sitting back near last through the early and middle stages, the son of Bettors Delight peeled three-wide with cover and finished full of running to beat Mah Sish and favourite Im Themightyquinn.

Caribbean Blaster would later run second in the 2013 Victoria Cup before retiring the next year with 24 wins from 79 starts and a little over $1.1million in the bank.

2016 Lennytheshark

After finishing runner-up in 2015, Lennytheshark would produce a brilliantly tough performance to go one better and claim the 2016 Victoria Cup.

Driven by regular driver Chris Alford, the David Aiken-trained fan favourite overcame an outside front row draw and early burn for the lead to stave off Smolda by a head.

He would return to win one of two runnings of the race in 2017, putting another exclamation mark on a career that included Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion triumphs and more than $3million in prizemoney.

2017 Lazarus

The megastar from New Zealand, Lazarus added Victoria Cup glory to his truly stunning international CV with a dominant display in the first running of the race in 2017.

Trainer-driver Mark Purdon worked forward from his wide front row gate and assumed control through the early stages before powering clear in the straight to win by 12m.

A second staging of the Victoria Cup was held later in the year, which was won by Lennytheshark.

Lazarus, a two-time Australasian Grand Circuit champion, had an international race record of 37 wins from 51 starts and earned more than $4million in one of the sport's great careers.

2020 Lochinvar Art

A sensational steer from trainer-driver David Moran helped Lochinvar Art to Victoria Cup glory in 2020.

Moran sent the son of Art Major charging forward at the bell and was able to duck in behind leader King Of Swing entering the back straight before charging past him in the run home to win in a race record mile rate of 1:51.4.

The two-time Victorian Horse of the Year would finish his Australian career with 28 wins and more than $1.4million in prizemoney before embarking on a stint in the United States.