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The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major annual thoroughbred horse race. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is for three-year-olds and over, and covers a distance of 3200 metres. The event has been held on the first Tuesday in November since 1861 by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world.
The race was originally held over two miles, about 3,218 metres, but following Australia's adoption of the metric system in 1972 the current distance of 3200 metres was adopted. This reduced the distance by 61ft 6in, and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3min.19.1sec was accordingly adjusted to 3min.17.9sec. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3min 16.3sec.
Attendance
The event is one of the most popular spectator events in Australia, with over 110,000 people, some dressed in traditional formal raceday wear and others in all manner of exotic and amusing costumes, attending the race. In 2005 a total of 383,784 race fans attended the Melbourne Cup Carnival annual event *
History
Seventeen horses contested the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, racing for a gold watch and 170 pounds cash. It has been said that the winner, Archer, walked 800km to the course from Nowra, New South Wales, but it is possible he travelled by ship. A crowd of 4000 watched the race, although it has been suggested this was less than expected because of news reaching Melbourne of the death of explorers Burke and Wills.
Archer won again the following year, but because the owner's nomination form arrived late the next year, Archer was unable to contest a third cup. Many sympathetic owners boycotted the race which started with only seven horses, the smallest number in the history of the cup.
Recent Years
The race has undergone several alterations over the past decade, the most visible being the arrival of many foreign horses to contest the race in the last decade (notwithstanding the many winners from New Zealand including the famous Phar Lap. Most have failed to cope with the conditions, with only Irish trainer Dermott Weld successful in 1993 with Vintage Crop and 2002 with Media Puzzle. The attraction for foreigners to compete, however, was the far less visible change to the new "quality handicap" weighting system.
The 2001 the Melbourne Cup was won by New Zealand mare Ethereal, trained by Sheila Laxon, the first woman to formally train a Melbourne Cup winner. She also won the Caulfield Cup, a 2400 metre race also held in Melbourne, and therefore has won the "Cups Double".
In 2004 Makybe Diva became the first mare to win consecutive cups, and also the first horse to win twice with different trainers, after David Hall moved to Hong Kong and transferred her to the Lee Freedman stables.
The 2005 Melbourne Cup was held before a crowd of 106,479. Makybe Diva made history by becoming the only horse to win three in a row. Trainer Lee Freedman said after the race, "Go and find the youngest child on the course, because that's the only person here who will have a chance of seeing this happen again in their lifetime."
Trophy
The trophy currently awarded (since 1919) is a gold loving cup worth *] at 2005 prices. The winning trainer and jockey also receive a miniature replica of the cup and the strapper is awarded the Tommy Woodcock Trophy, named after the strapper of the incomparable Phar Lap. The trophy changed in appearance greatly over the years since the first trophy was awarded in 1861, with several of them featuring model horses. The first trophy was a gold watch, until a silver bowl manufactured in England, with two ornate handles with a horse and rider on top, was introduced in 1865. From 1867 to 1875, a silver trophy was presented showing "Alexander Taming the Horse" and a figure of a female with wings. The first Australian-made and gold trophy was introduced in 1876. It had two handles and an engraving of a horse race set at Flemington.
A silver plated base sporting three silver horses was added in 1888, but in 1891 the prize changed to being a 15 inch high, 24 inch long trophy showing a Victory figure offering an olive wreath to a jockey There were no races 1894-1898 because of a depression, and on resumption the trophy was in the form of silver galloping horse embossed on a 3 foot long plaque, although it was said to look like a greyhound by some people.
The last Melbourne Cup trophy manufactured in England was made for the 1914 event. It was a chalice centred on a long base which had a horse at each end. A large rose bowl trophy was presented 1915-1918 and the current loving cup design was introduced in 1919.
Handicap
The Melbourne Cup is run as a "handicap", in which the weight of the jockey, and riding gear is adjusted with ballast to a nominated figure. Older horses are given more weight than younger ones, and weightings are further adjusted according to the horse's previous results.
In the past, such weightings were in theory established to give each horse an equal chance of winning the cup, but in recent years the rules have been adjusted to that of a "quality handicap" where superior horses are given less severe weight penalties than would be the case under pure handicap rules.
Racing purists and "serious" betters dislike the Cup, as the unusually long distance and handicap rules make the result highly unpredictable and allows mediocre horses to win. They regard the Cox Plate, a 2,040 metre Weight for Age race, as a true indication of the best horses in Australia. For which in 2005 Makybe Diva truly left her mark in history by winning the Cox Plate only 9 days before going on to win the Melbourne Cup.
Off The Track
'Fashions On The Field' is a major focus of the day, with substantial prizes awarded for the best-dressed male and female racegoers. The requirement for elegant hats almost single-handedly keeps Melbourne's milliners in business. Raceday fashion has occasionally drawn almost as much attention as the race itself, The miniskirt received worldwide publicity when model Jean Shrimpton wore one on Derby Day during Melbourne Cup week in 1965.
In the Melbourne metropolitan area, the race day is a public holiday, but around the country a majority of people watch the race on television and gamble, either through direct betting or participating in workplace cup "sweeps". In 2000 it was estimated that 80 percent of the adult Australian population placed a bet on the race that year *.
Past winners
For a list of Melbourne Cup winning horses see List of Melbourne Cup winners.
See also
- Australian horse-racing
- Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival
- List of Melbourne Cup winners
- List of prizes, medals, and awards
External links
1861 establishments | Melbourne Cup | Public holidays in Australia | Horse racing awards | Australian sporting events
"Melbourne Cup"