The Melbourne Cup

The most famous Tuesday in Australia is the Melbourne Cup Day. It is on the first Tuesday in November at 3.00 pm, Australians in everywhere stop for one of the world's most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup. It is one of the world's most challenging horse races and one of the richest (total prize money for 2005 - $AU5.1 million), and is the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival.

The nation stops whatever it's doing to listen to the race call, or watch the race on TV in the day. They would try their luck with a small wager or entry into a 'sweep' - a lottery in which each ticket-holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse.

The Cup Day has been a public holiday for Melbourne since 1877, and crowds have flocked to the track. By 11.00 am on the first holiday, the Flemington grandstand was packed to its 7,000 capacity, and by 3.00 pm, 150,000 people were estimated to have gathered - thronging the hill beyond. The party atmosphere often means that champagne and canapés, huge hats and racetrack fashions overshadow the business of horse racing.

The first Australian race meet, held in 1810, established the culture of the Melbourne Cup and was organized in Sydney by Governor Macquarie as part of a plan to improve the cultural life of Sydney.

The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861 at Flemington Race Course and was won by Archer, a horse from Nowra, New South Wales, beating the local favorite, Mormon. The prize was a gold watch and £170.

Phar Lap is perhaps Australia's most famous racehorse, combining stamina and speed. It is the only horse to have started favourite in three successive Melbourne Cups. The jockey who rode Phar Lap to victory in 1930 was Jimmy Pike. He is best known for his partnership with Phar Lap on whom he won 27 races from 30 rides. In 1932 Phar Lap was sent to Mexico for the Agua Caliente Handicap, the world's richest race at the time. Sixteen days later he died in San Francisco in suspicious circumstances, some believing he was poisoned.


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