Nimblefoot (horse)

Nimblefoot was an Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1870 Melbourne Cup.[1]

In a well-accepted story, Nimblefoot's owner, Walter Craig, dreamt four months before the race that his horse won the Cup but noted the jockey wore a black armband. Craig's prediction came true. His horse won the Cup and the jockey, John Day,[2][3] wore the armband in Craig's honour, as Craig had died of gout and pneumonia at the age of 45 on 16 August 1870, three months before the running of the race.[4] Samuel Griffiths, handicapper and turf historian, later scotched the story as a fabrication by the bookmaker Joseph Bragge "Leviathan" Slack, who paid out £500 each to Thomas Bailey (Craig's son-in-law)[5] and John Day for the bet they placed with him, and concocted the story for the extra publicity.[6]

Johnny Day, the jockey, was a notable person in his own right. As a child, he had been a leading figure in the sport of pedestrianism and travelled to England to compete against leading pedestrian athletes of the day[2] before returning to Australia and becoming a speed walking performer in the theatre, although it was said that his backers did not receive the profits they expected from supporting him.[7][8] After a dispute resulting from Day's abscondment from the trainer William Lang soon after the 1870 Melbourne Cup, Day was required to return to his apprenticeship[9] and continued to ride horses[10] until at least 1877 when he suffered a bad fall in a ride in Yarrawonga.[11] He died in 1885 in Inglewood of Addison's disease.[3]

Later in 1870 the solicitor Horatio Huntly Hoskins purchased Nimblefoot and Glencoe from Bailey, retaining William Lang as his trainer. By June 1871 Hoskins was deeply in debt to Lang and in 1872 agreed to sell Lang the horses for the amount he owed. Hoskins had other debts however,[12] and was forced to plead bankruptcy.