At about 10 p.m. on Cup night…a hansom cab pulled up outside the stables. Out of it came Mr Wallace, a waiter…a folding table, a well-filled champagne bucket, a cold collation. The two men – Mr Wallace, resplendent in evening clothes and Hickenbotham in more casual attire – then sat down to supper outside Carbine’s stall.
Carbine’s owner and trainer celebrate after the 1890 Cup

In the last few strides, however, she seemed to sense that something extra was needed. I could feel her gathering herself and she fairly dived at the winning post. I had only to wave the whip at her. I didn’t want to hit her. She was giving all she had.
Jockey Roy Higgins on Light Fingers after they won the 1965 Cup

I did not like him so I sold him. Now, I like him less. I think he fluked this race, but good luck to his owner, who has had a lot to put up with.
Breeder Mr J.O. Inglis after Darriwell won the 1879 Cup

We have no big races seriously in mind for him, though he will be entered for both Cups in Melbourne, and for the Doomben Cup. If he makes the grade, he will run in them.
Trainer Ivan Tucker talking about Rising Fast, winner of the 1954 Caulfield and Melbourne Cups

On the pub shelf, behind the bar counter, stood a bottle of Dutch liqueur named Van der Hum. ‘Name him that’, suggested the drinker. ‘It means "What’s his name"?’.
How the 1976 Cup winner got his name

That a horse that was, with some show of reason, called a lame pony, should win the Melbourne Cup, caused such profound surprise that when the game little fellow limped back into the weighing yard, the cheer that greeted him was one of the most half-hearted for many years at Flemington.
Press report on the 1881 Cup, won by Zulu who missed the confusion caused by a dog running onto the track during the race

When I got close to him, about a furlong from home, I could hear him yelling his head off. Maybe he frightened Polo Prince home.
Grenville Hughes on fellow New Zealand jockey Ron Taylor who rode Polo Prince to victory in the 1964 Cup

After the last race, and carrying the Cup in its case ‘to show to friends at the hotel’, Mr Trinder waited in vain for a taxi to take him to the city. Finally he was given a lift by a jockey who had ridden in the last race…
How Piping Lane’s Tasmanian owner Ray Trinder left Flemington after the 1972 Cup

The immense size of Archer, for a thoroughbred horse, is the first thing that strikes the observer and one would at first feel inclined to suppose that he would be too large and clumsy to be able to get over the ground at anything over a moderately swift pace. This is not the case…
Contemporary description of the 1861 & 1862 Cup winner

Mark my words, this defeat has made your great mare's name part of Australian racing history, forever. It will be remembered when my horse's win has been forgotten. Only I know the greatness of the job she did today. I congratulate YOU, sir.
John Mayo, owner of Lord Cardigan, speaking to Leslie Macdonald, owner of the champion mare Wakeful after the 1903 Cup. Lord Cardigan carried six stone eight pounds and defeated Wakeful, carrying ten stone (a weight difference of about 22 kg)  by three-quarters of a length. But Wakeful got her revenge: she became the dam of 1918 Cup winner Nightwatch.

Steady, steady.
Mr E.C.S. Falconer, who'd suffered a heart attack the previous year, attempting to calm himself in the Flemington members' stand during the final stages of the 1970 Melbourne Cup. The race was won by his runner Baghdad Note. 

Source:
A Century of Winners: The Saga of 121 Melbourne Cups, Bill Ahern (Boolarong Publications, 1982)