Wotan will always be remembered as only the second 100/1 winner of the Melbourne Cup. His 1936 victory was something of an oddity in the racing world. He was owned and bred by the Smith Brothers from the Martian mare Left who, while they never disclosed publicly how much they had paid for her, they admitted had purchased for under £100. She was to produce three Cups winners in Gaine Carrington, who won the 1933 Caulfield Cup, Peter Jackson who won the 1933 Moonee Valley Cup, and the 1936 Melbourne Cup winner, Wotan. Remarkably, the only reason they retained Wotan is because they could find no one interested in leasing him. Peter Jackson had earlier won two St Legers in his native NZ, while Gaine Carrington we have discussed briefly earlier.
Wotan was interesting in that he won his first ever start on the track, as
