Tag Archives: Melbourne Cup

horse racing

Introduction to the famous Melbourne Cup Horse Racing (Part 2)

The first race was held in 1861 with a distance of more than two miles (about 3218 meters), but was shortened to 3,200 meters (2.0 miles) in 1972 when Australia adopted the meter measurement system. This reduced the distance by 18,688 m (61.31 ft), and the race record for 1968 was 3min 19.1sec for the Lover Rain, which was adjusted to 3min.17.9sec.

Holding the current record is the 1990 Kingston Rule with a time of 3 minutes 16.3sec. At the Melbourne Cup, many horses have become famous. That’s Archer – one of the five horses that won more than one tournament. Or Makybe Diva is the only horse winning 3 consecutive years: 2003, 2004 and 2005. But perhaps the most prominent is the Phar Lap horse – the most famous horse in Australia.

Phar Lap horse

Phar Lap horse is a horse born in New Zealand, trained in Australia. Phar Lap won many horse racing events during the Great Depression. During difficult economic times, he was considered a hero of the entire Australian people. The story of this horse has also been made into a movie.

Not only the best horses, professionally trained in Australia, but many other countries around the world can participate in this festival. In 2014, 31 foreign horses from Japan, France, Germany and New Zealand were sent to the Melbourne Cup.

The first horse from abroad to win the Melbourne Cup was the horse from New Zealand Martini-Henry in 1883 and the four most recent foreign horses won including Fiorente (Ireland), Green Moon (Ireland), Dunaden (France) and Americain (USA).

Fashion on the Field

Fashion on the Field is an annual competition held in this event as well as many other horse racing events across Australia. Initially, the awards were put into categories to see how much the ladies spent on their costumes: costumes under £ 30, above £ 50 and the best hat.

British model Jean Shrimpton surprised everyone when in 1965 she came to Derby Dayy with a mini zippered knee-high 10 cm without a hat, gloves and socks. Her shocking outfits at the time caught the attention of the world with Melbourne’s horse racing. Today, women are free to choose their most gorgeous and beautiful costumes to perform at the festival.

horse racing

Introduction to the famous Melbourne Cup Horse Racing (Part 1)

Melbourne Cup is Australia’s largest and most popular annual horse racing event. Held on the 3rd of the beginning of November every year at 3pm. This is a 3200m long race for horses 3 years of age and older organized by the Horse Racing Club – Victoria at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

This is a handicap competition (for all sides to weigh). The horses will be given additional weight on their backs to ensure that all competitors have the same chance of winning.

Melbourne Cup Day has been considered a public holiday in Victoria since 1873. In the past, the event has officially been an annual public holiday since 1993 and is regulated in Australia’s Official Holiday Law. However, if not in Melbourne or Victoria, there are also a lot of people watching via TV.

Currently, an estimated 700 million people follow this event in 120 countries around the world. On Tuesday of this November, you can watch the Melbourne Cup live via Australia Plus Television’s international television channel or listen to Radio Australia radio.

The Melbourne Cup 2019 Horse Racing is worth up to A $ 7 million. There will be about 24 horses participating in the cup competition. The trophy for the winning horse is not cheap at all. Especially, this trophy is worth up to $ 175,000, made from 18 carats of gold.

The sole is made from Australian mimosa wood. Each year, the trophy will be renewed to give the owner of the winning horse. In this tournament, there are also 2 other trophies worth about $ 10,000 for trainers and riders. The Archer horse won the first Melbourne Cup and its owner was given a gold watch.

Cup Day is part of the equestrian festival which includes many other events. For example, The Derby which took place the previous Saturday, Oaks Day on the Thursday after Cup Day and Stakes Day as the end of the festive season. Saturday after the Cup Day.