Melbourne Cup

The beginning of November marks "Spring Racing Carnival" time in Melbourne. A week of horse racing takes place annually at Flemington Racecourse, just down the road from where we live. The biggest race, Melbourne Cup, takes place on the Tuesday, and it is often coined as "the race that stops the nation". It is a public holiday, which means no work or school in Victoria and often in neighboring states the case is the same.

I had been wanting to attend Cup Day since our arrival in Melbourne. One of our friends who lives in Queensland was coming down for the race with some of his friends, so we thought it would be a good chance to hang out with him and to see the races.

Joe and I. Contiki 2004 reunites again!

There are several races (10) throughout the day, but the actual Melbourne Cup race is the one that everyone gets excited about, and that race takes place around 3pm. We arrived about 10am with lots of snacks, a blanket, and chairs (which actually did not survive the day!), finding a spot very close to the rail to allow for a good view of the races. The crowd built gradually over the day and eventually there were 104,000 people there for the races!

In the early hours there was plenty of room to move around.

Our view of the horses from the rail.

Crowds started to form on the rail around midday.

By the time the Melbourne Cup race rolled around, there was not any space to move!

One unique thing about horse racing in Australia is that most races take place on grass, and Melbourne Cup is no exception. Also, there was a warm up area for the horses where spectators could get very close, and I honestly have no idea if that exists in the States for races like Preakness, Belmont, or the Kentucky Derby. I do know that there are a very small percentage of people at Melbourne Cup that do not dress up for the races. Headwear, in particular is something that stands out, as there are often unique hats or fascinators worn by women attending the races. From what I have seen of those big US horse races mentioned earlier, there are generally a lot of people in the infield who do not dress up and sometimes the well-dressed crowd is limited to the grandstand. We saw a few people in shorts or jeans but most men were in suits and most women in dresses.

One of the horses showing off to "punters" before the races.

In a city where the weather is completely unpredictable, we could not have picked a more perfect day. Blue skies, light winds, and no rain made for excellent conditions for watching the races and for socializing. I had heard horror stories about lines to get drinks and for the toilet, but I was impressed with the efficiency of those lines given the number of people in attendance.

All in all, we had an awesome day at Melbourne Cup. I am told that in order to truly experience horse racing in Australia, I also need to attend a race in the country (often termed "Country Vic" by the locals), so of course that is now on my radar and I will be looking for a country horse race to head to soon!

Horses and jockeys racing with the CBD skyline in the background.