The race that stops a nation
Posted 4th November 2009 at 04:23 PM by knot2share
Updated 6th November 2009 at 02:25 AM by knot2share (grammar again!)
Updated 6th November 2009 at 02:25 AM by knot2share (grammar again!)
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s most famous horse race and is truly the race that stops a nation. All over Australia people tune in to watch or listen to the race. All work comes to a standstill for those few minutes (race starts at 3pm Australian Eastern Standard time to be exact). It is a public holiday in Melbourne and considered a biggest tourist attraction of Victoria. (Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria). It is held on the first Tuesday in November each year since 1861. It was declared a public holiday in Melbourne since 1877. Considered the richest handicap race in the world, attracting over 100,000 or more people to the racecourse at Flemington, Melbourne Cup race is run over 3200 meters. The race is called a handicap race because the horses carry different weights to make the race fair across the board. The better the horse, the more weight it has to carry. It can pay off betting on an outsider horse, as it has an equal chance of winning as the mostly claimed ones.
Racing is a very common affair in Australia and generally takes place in spring and autumn. It takes a back seat when the time comes for Cricket (summer) or Australian Football (winter).
The Spring Racing Carnival in Victoria is a very important event in the Australian Racing Calendar. Excitement, glamour and fashion are integral part of the carnival. There are four main race days:
- Victoria Derby Day – held on Saturday before the Melbourne Cup.
- Melbourne Cup Day – held on first Tuesday in November.
- Crown Oaks Day – held on Thursday following the Melbourne Cup Day and traditionally called Ladies day.
- Stakes Day – held on Saturday following Oaks Day and traditionally called Family day.
Fashion on the field is the main news item along with the races. There is a lot of media attention in the air. Women flock the racecourse with elegant and fancy looking hats and dresses. Shorts are not allowed for women (and possibly men), as one lady in her shorts was not allowed entry, this year. The best dressed man and woman are awarded as part of the festivities. So much time and energy are spent on trying to get dressed up for the occasion. All four days of racing are filled with fashion and glamour. Many designers and dressmakers have the opportunity to see their creations exhibited on these days. Apart from being a major occasion for Australian Fashion, the Spring Racing Carnival is also a very busy time for hairdressers and bookmakers. Even those who normally do not bet, try to give it a shot on a small scale. We and our friends too try our luck every year on a small scale. This year of course, for the boys, the expectations were high on the prospects of buying a new LED TV! We just knew that we had picked the right horses when we placed our bets.
Flowers also play an important role on the race days. Each of the four major race days has an official flower.
Victoria Derby Day – Corn Flower
Melbourne Cup Day – Yellow Rose
Crown Oaks Day – Pink Rose
Stakes Day – Red Rose
Melbourne Cup is the highlight of the Spring Carnival and is not just an Australian event, but also an internationally acclaimed event with horses from different countries like New Zealand, Ireland, Dubai, Great Britain, Japan etc participating. International horses participating in the Melbourne Cup are required to undergo stringent quarantine requirements for at least 14 days in approved premises, before they travel to Australia. The Melbourne Cup trophy is a three handled 18 carat gold cup, a handle each representing the horse, jockey and the trainer. This is the cup that every jockey aspires and dreams to win.
There is loads of information available on the net that gives you tips on the best way to approach betting for Melbourne Cup. The newspapers are flooded with information on the horses and tips from celebrities and experts. Many offices and clubs run a Melbourne Cup Sweepstake so that everybody can be involved and might have a big win with a small stake. Some passionate race goers follow the other races as a lead up to Melbourne Cup, to have a better idea on the current form of the horses, although this does not put them in any better prospects for winning the bets.
Quoting Mark Twain’s words after his visit to Melbourne Cup in 1895 –
Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation. The Cup astonishes me.
The most famous Australian horse of all was PHAR LAP (a Thai word for sky flash or lightning). PHAR LAP dominated the Australian racing by winning many of the richest races, including the Melbourne Cup in 1930. PHAR LAP was targeted a couple of days before the Melbourne Cup in 1930 by criminals. They shot at him and missed him and he went on to win the Cup. The horse died of a mysterious illness. There is a movie on PHAR LAP. Australia requested for the mortal remains of the horse (the hide), and PHAR LAP now stands majestically in the National Museum of Victoria in Melbourne.
The horse with most number of Melbourne Cup wins is MAKYBE DIVA (pronounced Mc eye bee Diva) which won the Melbourne Cup three times in a row (2003, 2004, and 2005). Lee Freedman was the trainer (has 5 wins to his credit) and Glen Boss was the rider.
One of the winners was a horse by the name ROGAN JOSH, which won the Melbourne Cup in 1999. Bart Cummings was the trainer (has 12 wins to his credit) and John Marshall was the rider.
The winner of the 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup (the event currently being sponsored by Emirates) is the horse by the name SHOCKING!, ridden by jockey Corey Brown and trained by Mark Kavanagh. SHOCKING was challenged till the end by another horse named CRIME SCENE, followed by MOURILYAN. Yes, we were actually wondering how people came up with such names for horses.
As for our LED TV – well there is always a next time!
[I have sourced this information from various websites like
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Cup
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ne_Cup_winners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phar_Lap
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov....s/melbournecup
And few more]
Please google for more information.
Total Comments 17
Comments
-
Dear K2S a detailed and interesting description of Melbourne Cup. I think horse race is the only sports which gives due importance to fashion too. With all these mighty horses and gorgeous dress a race course is a feast to eyes. Truly said, even I was wondering how someone comes up with names like shocking, crime scene etc. PHARLAP is the apt name for that great horse. Yeah and as you said there is always next year to win an LED ;)Posted 4th November 2009 at 11:30 PM by amihere
-
Enjoyed the race
Dear Shree,
Shree this is again something unexpected from you,
but was very informative. I could imagine that colorful race course ground and all the thrilling moments while reading your blog.
But I am not lucky like you shree, how can I reach there to see that. Please arrange a visa for me before the next race, then I will be there definitely…LOL.
With love
AyyanPosted 4th November 2009 at 11:46 PM by ayyan -
its so nice you are sharing with us information of the place which we know nothing about .
i love to know about the cultures and traditions of a different place .
here too horse and camel race are very important .had earilier about melbourne cup , but never expected it to be horse race .
keep going ........ and thank you for such an informative blog .Posted 5th November 2009 at 12:32 AM by jils -
JS - you are the true "VOICE OF MELBOURNE".
i was under the impression that only Ashes Series and the boxing day tests are the most popular in Aus.
you are also an EYE OPENER in many ways.
keep going.Posted 5th November 2009 at 12:48 AM by natpudan 
-
Dear K2S
It was really nice to read about this race i use watch it on TV every time never had an opporunity to visit Melbourne.
But when ever there use to be a horse race in townsville I use to always go many a time I too betted on the horse I did not win anytime that is a different question
. but it use to be great fun, We use to get invitation from these vodafone people.
More then the race sometime I use to see these ladies dressing with such lovely hats and dresses they use to look so pretty like real walking dolls.
I was not aware of so much history about this race thanks for all the information. I use to watch as it use to be a real interesting one.Posted 5th November 2009 at 04:02 AM by Arunarc
