Popular Racing Event - The Melbourne Cup

July 24, 2008

The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s biggest thoroughbred race and is held annually in Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse. The Cup is world famous and dates back to 1871, when the first race prize was £170 cash and a gold watch. The race has undergone many alterations over the years, notably that horses that are trained abroad are now allowed to enter the race. However the hot dry conditions often put these competitors at a disadvantage and only 3 such “foreign raids” have ever been successful.

The Melbourne Cup is raced over a distance of 3,200 metres, and is generally thought to be one of the most prestigious “two-mile” handicap races in the world. It is incredibly popular in Australia, and the 2006 cup was held in front of a record-breaking crowd of 106,479. Although it only started off as being a day’s holiday for those in the Melbourne District, is has now become a public holiday across  the whole of Australia.

The cup itself was first presented in 1919, and is a three-handled gold loving cup made of 1.65kg of 18-carat gold, and valued at $80,000 in 2007. From the Melbourne cup odds, the winning trainer and jockey receive a miniature model of the cup, and also a very handsome cheque. The Melbourne Cup Betting first prize total as of May 2008 has been estimated at $3.3 million Australian dollars. The race also carries an additional bonus of $500,000 Australian dollars to the owner of any horse that wins the Irish St Leger and the Melbourne Cup in the same year.

As with many prominent race days, the Melbourne Cup is a very social event, and ‘Fashions On The Field’ is a major part of the day with prizes being awarded for the best-dressed race goers. The popularity of the day can be seen in the fact that in 2000 it was estimated that 80 percent Australian population placed bet on Melbourne Cup event.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted in Tournaments