Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is held at Flemington Racecourse, which is about 6km northwest of Melbourne's CBD. Flemington opened in 1840 and now features a six furlong or 1200m straight, known as 'the. Melbourne Cup is a horse race that is held in Victoria, Australia as part of the Spring Racing Carnival.Tasks included in this pack are -Alphabet KeyRecord words to describe Melbourne CupLabel the parts of the horseHorse Words – what can you add?Plus, Minus and Interesting Facts about Melbourne. Celebrate Melbourne Cup Day. The jewel in the crown, Melbourne Cup Day is held on the first Tuesday of November each year. The day is a state-wide public holiday and almost all of Australia tunes in for 'the race that stops a nation' at 3pm. Only four horse races in the world offer a bigger prize money purse than the Melbourne Cup. Melbourne cup carnival race days Prepare yourself for a world of magic, sophistication, style and glamour. Where the beating heart of racing excitement meets a celebrity-fuelled celebration that surpasses any of the world's greatest parties.

1. Melbourne Cup Challenge
2. Melbourne Cup Field
3. Melbourne Cup 2020

Melbourne Cup Challenge

The Australian Melbourne Cup, the world's richest two mile handicap race and the biggest and most significant of Australia's horse racing events is run by 3 year old and above horses (colts, fillies and geldings) on the turf surfaced Flemington racecourse every year at the first Tuesday of November. The race is held and organized by the Victoria Racing Club, an 1861 established State of Victoria horse racing governing body.

History of the Melbourne Cup
The first Melbourne Cup was held in 1861 and was run, unlike nowadays, over a distance greater than two miles, at about 3,218 meters. With the introduction of the metric system to Australia at around 1970, the Melbourne Cup race trip was reduced to 3,200 meters in the 1972 race and has been the Melbourne Cup official race distance. Following low attendance at the first Melbourne Cup, Victorian Racing Club's first secretary Robert Bagot, decided to attract the crowd in an old fashioned way, saying that where ever the ladies go, men will follow. He supplied members of the club with two ladies tickets and managed to attract a crowd of 4,000 spectators. Though the first Melbourne Cup was a part of fair and was conducted unprofessionally as one horse was bolted minutes before the race and three horses out the seventeen runners fell during the race resulting in the death of two of them.

Melbourne Cup Today
The Melbourne Cup today is visited annually by a crowd exceeding 130,000 race spectators, host top of their class and grade horses from the US, UK, Ireland and Japan and bears a purse of $5 Australian dollars, $3 million of them as the winner's prize, handed together with the golden Melbourne Cup Trophy, valued at $125,000. The Melbourne Cup also offers a $500,000 bonus for any horse winning the Irish St. Leger and the Melbourne Cup at the same year. The minimum handicap weight is 47 kg (7st 4lb) when there is no maximum weight but the top assigned weight mustn't be below 57 kg (8st 9lb). Each horse is assigned with handicapping weight as done in every handicap race when the weight assigned for each horse running the Melbourne cup is declared at around September by the Victorian Racing Club. Horses are can be considered as contenders for the Melbourne Cup by qualifying certain conditions such as lifetime earnings, win or places at leading international races and top weight ever carried by the horses.

Melbourne Cup Social Event
The day of the Melbourne Cup is declared as a public holiday for every working class within the city of Melbourne and some parts in the State of Victoria. Thousands of horse racing fans attend the Flemington racecourse while millions clutch to the TV screen, hoping to get a glimpse of the exciting two minutes of 'The race that stops a nation' as it referred to in Australia. Betting activity is also at peak during the months preceding the race. Commentators analyze the event and lay down forecasts for the race while bettors debate among themselves over the most valued ante post selections. Indeed a day of festivity.

Melbourne Cup Day is Australia's best known horse racing event held on the first Tuesday of November every year. It is an annual public holiday in the state of Victoria. This event is popularly dubbed as 'the race that stops the nation'.

Is Melbourne Cup Day a Public Holiday?

Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Victoria, where it is a day off for the general population, and schools and most businesses are closed.

Celebrate Melbourne Cup Day

Melbourne Cup Day is one of Australia's most popular social and racing events. The main racing event takes place at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria. More than 100,000 people usually attend Flemington Racecourse. Local races are held throughout the country on this day and when the main race of the day occurs at the Flemington Racecourse it is televised on screens at race tracks across Australia. The race is televised live to an audience of about 650 million people worldwide. Many people stop what they are doing shortly before 3pm on Melbourne Cup Day to watch or listen to the main race either via television, Internet or the radio.

At the races, people dress up – many women wear their best or most colorful hats and dresses, with some participating in fashion parades on the field. Marquees are set up for VIP guests, including local, national and international celebrities who attend this festive event. Champagne, wine and gourmet finger foods are usually served on this day.

Many offices across the Australia stop work closer to the time of the main race to celebrate the event. Activities include office parties that feature hat and dress competitions, staff lunches at restaurants and afternoon teas where a television is available so workers can watch the main race. Bets are made on this day – even those who usually do not bet try their luck with a small wager or entry into a sweep, which is a lottery in which each ticket holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse. There are some Australians who deem horse racing as a cruel sport and have been vocal in their protests over the years.

Public Life

Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Melbourne so many people have the day off work. Other towns and cities in Victoria can have a public holiday or 2 half-day public holidays in lieu of Melbourne Cup Day. For example, the town of Wodonga, in northern Victoria, celebrates Wodonga Gold Cup Day, on the last Friday of November.

Although it is a legal holiday in only Victoria, it is observed in many towns and cities so there may be traffic congestion near race tracks in urban areas and parking may be difficult to find in these areas.

Is Melbourne Cup Day a Public Holiday?

Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Victoria, where it is a day off for the general population, and schools and most businesses are closed.

Celebrate Melbourne Cup Day

Melbourne Cup Day is one of Australia's most popular social and racing events. The main racing event takes place at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria. More than 100,000 people usually attend Flemington Racecourse. Local races are held throughout the country on this day and when the main race of the day occurs at the Flemington Racecourse it is televised on screens at race tracks across Australia. The race is televised live to an audience of about 650 million people worldwide. Many people stop what they are doing shortly before 3pm on Melbourne Cup Day to watch or listen to the main race either via television, Internet or the radio.

At the races, people dress up – many women wear their best or most colorful hats and dresses, with some participating in fashion parades on the field. Marquees are set up for VIP guests, including local, national and international celebrities who attend this festive event. Champagne, wine and gourmet finger foods are usually served on this day.

Many offices across the Australia stop work closer to the time of the main race to celebrate the event. Activities include office parties that feature hat and dress competitions, staff lunches at restaurants and afternoon teas where a television is available so workers can watch the main race. Bets are made on this day – even those who usually do not bet try their luck with a small wager or entry into a sweep, which is a lottery in which each ticket holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse. There are some Australians who deem horse racing as a cruel sport and have been vocal in their protests over the years.

Public Life

Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Melbourne so many people have the day off work. Other towns and cities in Victoria can have a public holiday or 2 half-day public holidays in lieu of Melbourne Cup Day. For example, the town of Wodonga, in northern Victoria, celebrates Wodonga Gold Cup Day, on the last Friday of November.

Although it is a legal holiday in only Victoria, it is observed in many towns and cities so there may be traffic congestion near race tracks in urban areas and parking may be difficult to find in these areas.

Melbourne Cup Field

About Melbourne Cup Day

Melbourne Cup Day has been observed in Australia since the first race was held at the Flemington Racecourse in Victoria in 1861. The race was won by Archer, who won it again the following year. The event features races, including the handicap race which is run by about 20 thoroughbreds for a couple million Australian dollars. The story of Phar Lap, a legendary New Zealand thoroughbred who won the Melbourne Cup in 1930 and was nicknamed 'Australia's wonder horse', was made into a movie. Some people believe he was poisoned when he died.

The first Tuesday in November, Melbourne Cup Day, was officially gazetted a full public holiday in 1877 in Melbourne. While all of Melbourne's 31 metropolitan councils celebrated the first Tuesday in November, there was a gap where some regional councils had not selected an 11th public holiday. Therefore, in 2008 the Victorian Parliament passed a new legislation that saw Melbourne Cup Day as a public holiday for all council areas in the state except those where other holidays have been designated. This means that Melbourne Cup Day is now officially a public holiday throughout the state. There are similar races throughout Australia, as horse racing is popular, but Melbourne Cup Day is still the number one horse racing event in the country.

Melbourne Cup 2020

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