Bred in New Zealand in 1987 and raced there in her early years, Let's Elope did not blossom until she crossed the Tasman and was put in the care of Bart Cummings. 

Biography

TRAINER: Dave O'Sullivan & Bart Cummings

OWNERS: Fleiter family, Dennis Marks & Kevin White (1991)

RACE RECORD/STAKE MONEY: 26 starts: 11 wins, 0 seconds, 5 thirds/$2,940,250

Major Wins 

• Caulfield Cup
• Melbourne Cup
• LKS MacKinnon Stakes
• Turnbull Stakes
• Australian Cup
• C F Orr Stakes
• St George Stakes

About

In the spring of 1991 she won the VRC Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, followed by a last stride win in the Caulfield Cup. Two weeks later she won the weight-for-age VRC Mackinnon Stakes, beating Super Impose, and then went on to win the Melbourne Cup after surviving a protest. Only Rivette, among the mares, had previously won the big Cups double.

In the autumn of 1992 she returned to the track in fine form and won the VATC St. George Stakes and the VRC Australian Cup in record time. Later in the year she ran second in the W.S. Cox Plate, but was relegated to fifth on protest.

Her subsequent international career brought mixed results. In the Japan Cup she ran unsuccessfully and bled. Sent to the United States she won races, but bled again and had to be retired. Her progeny have included Group 1 performer, Ustinov.

Let's Elope was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.

Image Source: Australian Racing Museum Collection