Famous Horse Races - Melbourne Cup

Race type: Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Purse: AUD$5 million (about USD$4.4 million)
Location: Flemington Racecourse -Melbourne, Australia
Inaugurated: 1861
Track: Turf, left-handed
Weight: Handicap
Website: Flemington Racecourse

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 3,200 metres. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world. The event is held on the first Tuesday in November by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. This day was traditionally only a public holiday within metropolitan Melbourne, but is now also observed as a holiday in the ACT.

What horse race is capable of stopping a nation? There is only one, and everybody knows the answer...It is Australia's great tradition. It may not officially be our national day of celebration, but unofficially it is. The Tooheys New Melbourne Cup is the most unique race in the world, and the day itself has no counterpart. No other event on the Australian calendar comes close, whether it's a sporting or entertainment event. And it's not just a day for racing fans, it is a day in which racing is celebrated by everybody. The entire country grinds to a halt for the running of the race. Parties and barbecues are held throughout the nation to celebrate.

The home of the race and the center point of a nation for the day - Flemington - is a sea of color and vibrancy from one end of the course to the other. People start arriving at 8am and the crowds continue to build until the start of the race when up to 100,000 will be in attendance to watch the great event. In the Members' Car Park boot-parties are the order of the day. Many men arrive in tails and top hats, but in the crowd, tails and football shorts add another dimension to the occasion. For the women it is still about looking one's elegant best and they come dressed to impress. To be at Flemington is to feel pure excitement, which builds to a crescendo at race time. Each buildup to the Tooheys New Melbourne Cup follows the same pattern.

Before the race a hush descends upon the course, shattered by a roar that engulfs the crowd when the gates open to begin the 3200-metre event. At the winning post the first time around, the leading horse is greeted with a cheer. The noise quickens as the field wheels out of the straight with a lap to go. As they turn into the straight with 600 meters left, the murmur builds again into a roar at crescendo as the horses take their last few gut-wrenching strides.

The History of the Melbourne Cup