[6] Tony Šantić's bloodstock agent John Foote purchased Tugela in foal to Desert King for 60,000 guineas at the December 1998 Tattersall's Sale.

[7] Named Makybe Diva, the filly remained at Britton House Stud until August 2000, when she and Tugela were shipped to Australia.

Originally trained by David Hall, Makybe Diva made her racetrack debut in late July 2002, as a three-year-old, in a maiden at Benalla, Victoria, and finished fourth.

The last win was significant in that it qualified the mare for the following year's Melbourne Cup and allowed her trainer to give her a light autumn campaign, which consisted of just two starts in relatively short races.

[citation needed] Makybe Diva's early career was unusual in that she was unable to contest any major races against horses of her own age, such as the VRC Oaks, because she was foaled in the U.K. to the Northern Hemisphere breeding calendar.

She then started 5:1 equal favourite in the Group 2 Turnbull Stakes, where she again raced at the back of the field, before finishing fourth, beaten by only one length.

A close second in the Group 2 John F Feehan Stakes over 1,600 m (5,200 ft) at Moonee Valley showed her competitiveness in shorter races.

The mare further enhanced her reputation despite being eight horses wide on the home turn, with a comfortable victory in the 2005 Cox Plate, subsequently beating 2006 winner Fields of Omagh.

Settling towards the back of the field, she steadily made ground between runners around the home turn, before hitting the lead with around 300 m to go and holding a comfortable 1-1/4-length margin at the finish.

Immediately after the race, trainer Lee Freedman said: Go find the smallest child on this course, and there will be the only example of a person who will live long enough to see that again.The win was not without controversy, however.

Many, including rival trainers, suggested the track watering amounted to bad sportsmanship employed to give Makybe Diva the best chance to win the race.

[3] At the end of the 2005–06 season, Makybe Diva was named Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year for the second time, becoming just the third horse to win that accolade more than once.

At 3:16 on the morning of 17 August 2007, AEST time, Makybe Diva gave birth to her first foal, named Rockstardom, at Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley of NSW.

[14] Makybe Diva was due to be served by Encosta De Lago in the spring of 2007 until the outbreak of equine influenza forced the stud to be quarantined.

Spirit of Sport Award site On 4 July 2006, Makybe Diva was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

[21] As announced on 5 August 2006, Makybe Diva has been honoured at Flemington Racecourse with a life-sized bronze statue, in recognition of her historic three Melbourne Cup wins.