Australia is a country with a great love for sports. The Melbourne Cup is the biggest equestrian event of the year in Australia, that also hosts or contests other events like the Australian Open in tennis, the Australian Grand Prix in Formula 1 and The Ashes in cricket. Known as “the race that stops a nation” because every year some 100,000 lucky spectators witness the race, the Melbourne Cup has been held since 1861 on the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. So get prepared for the big event with the go-to guide to the Melbourne Cup.
Who Can Race?
The race is handicapped for Thoroughbreds three and a half years old, or older. The minimum weight allowed for the horses is of 50kg. While there is no maximum weight, there is a handicap so that the weight of the jockey and the riding gear is no less than 57kg, and older horses must carry more weight than their younger counterparts. The idea behind this is to make it a balanced race where every horse has somewhat the same chances of winning.
The Costs of Entering a Horse
Competing horses must be entered before the first week of August. There’s an initial entry fee of $600 per horse, and around four hundred horses are entered to the race. However, the final lineup is made of just 24 racers, how does this work? Well, after weights have been allocated, race directors reduce the field on four different occasions, deciding upon those who “advance” to the next ballot on factors like prize money previously won, the place they’ve finished in previous races and the weight handicap allocated. There are four ballots, where the horse owners must accept entrance to the ballot, paying $960 for the first ballot, $1450 for the second, $2420 for the third and a final $45375 for the last ballot, which is announced on the Saturday before the race and decides the 24 horses that will take a spot in the race.
The Prize
Since 2019 the prize money has been a total of $8 million, with the winner taking $4.4 million. They also get a 18-carat gold trophy weighing over one and a half kilograms. It’s a design the Victorian Racing Club commissioned to James Steeth in 1919, with a new trophy being made every year in that shape and becoming property of the winner.
A Day Out at the Tracks
The race is one of the most prestigious events in Australia, and that can be seen by the fact that it has been a public holiday in the country since 1873. Everyone working or studying in the metropolitan area of Melbourne and parts of the region of the state of Victoria are given a free day to come to the tracks and watch the race or follow it from home. This has been the case since as early as 1865, when many public servants and workers called to ask for the day off and often business closed at lunchtime during the day of the race. Many even ask for it to be a National Holiday, as there’s a notorious spike in sick leaves requested across the nation on that day.
Photo by Gusztáv Galló
