Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup has been called “the races that stop the nation.” It has become a kind of national institution, generating controversy and causing more interest than any other race in the country (it is worth noting that the Cups of different ranks in the states of Australia are held almost monthly).

The first Melbourne Cup was held in November 1861. There were 17 horses in the race. The prize fund is £170 and a gold watch. Today, the Melbourne Cup is the most prestigious two-mile handicap in the world and the most expensive cup in Australia with a prize pool of 5 million Australian dollars. Only on bets (and almost every Australian makes a bet on this day!) earn several million dollars. The race is held under the auspices of the Victoria Racing Club in Flemington, a suburb of Melbourne.

Melbourne Cup Day is Australia’s most famous Tuesday. No matter what the Australians do, at 3:20 p.m. on the first Tuesday of November, people everywhere stop to listen to the start of the race or watch it on TV.

It is also a day of many events at the racecourse in Flemington. Ladies invited to the most famous races in the world try to impress with their outfits and, most importantly, hats - fashionable, strange, funny. Going to the race without a hat is like staying home.

Spectators at the racecourse begin to gather from 8 a.m., although the races themselves start well before noon. By 3 p.m., the racecourse is packed with up to 100,000 people to watch one of the biggest shows in the country.

In 2005, McKiby Diva made history by becoming the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three years in a row. Coach Lee Friedman told the jockey after the races: "Go and find the smallest spectator at this racecourse, because this is the only person who has a chance to see this again in his life."

The Melbourne Cup concludes a six-week spring (when we have autumn, in the southern hemisphere – spring!) carnival in the capital of Victoria. All these six weeks - a continuous celebration of laughter, fashion and ... the best trotters in the world. A great way to shake off the remnants of winter! Carnival begins in early October and lasts almost two months. The Melbourne Cup is not the only race of these holidays, but definitely the most famous.

Fashion on the field - "Fashions on the Field" - no less important event of the day. For the best costume, the spectators of the races - a man and a woman - are awarded valuable prizes. The fashion trends and costumes of the Cup spectators attract almost as much attention as the races themselves. By the way, miniskirts, which gained worldwide popularity in the 60s of the last century, began to be worn after model Jean Shrimpton wore such a skirt in 1965 for the celebration of the Melbourne Cup.

Melbourne Cup records:
The fastest record – 3 minutes 16.3 seconds in 1990 – belongs to the horse Kingston Rule.
• The most titled winner is Makaibi Diva (victory in 2003, 2004, 2005).
• Most cups have jockeys Bobby Lewis and Harry White.