Global Sports: The Melbourne Cup: Australia's Prestigious Turf Race

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Melbourne Cup: Australia's Prestigious Turf Race

By Byron Jonas


Inside the starting gate at the Flemington Racecourse are twenty-four of the best three year old thoroughbreds in the world. Anticipation mounts, the bell rings and the shout that they are off and heading down the track goes through the crowd. Everyone anxiously awaits the winning horse to see if it is the one they bet on. The excitement at the Melbourne Cup in Australia can't be matched.

Since this race is a handicap race that is run over a two mile course, each horse is designated a certain weight that it must carry. This is required so that the horses running in the race will be more or less equal in their possibility of winning. The least a horse will carry is 49 kilos. Older horses and horses that have won more races will carry more weight than the others. The weight of the jockey and the saddle are included in the required amount.

The Melbourne Cup is the most prestigious and richest handicap and turf race in the world. The first ten horses to cross the finish line will win a money prize. The first place winner receives over three million dollars, and the tenth place winner receives just over one hundred thousand dollars. There is an extra bonus of five hundred thousand dollars awarded to the owner of a horse that wins the Melbourne Cup and the Irish St. Leger in the same year.

Any owner who wants to enter his horse in this horse race, must be willing to put up a large sum of money. Because the initial entry fee is only $600, there are several hundred horses nominated each year. There are three more times that a fee must be paid costing the owners a total of $50,000. The horses are narrowed down to only twenty-four horses that will be lucky enough to reach the starting gate on the special day.

In 1861 the first race was run. The Japanese horse, Deep Impact, holds the fastest time of any horse that has ever run in the Melbourne Cup. His time was 3:13.4 Shocking, a horse bred in Australia, won the race in 2009. His time was 3:23.87

Every Australian waits impatiently for Cup Day. It is a legal holiday for all of Australia. Even if they don't go to the race, they watch it on television or listen to it on the radio. It is normal for friends to wager among themselves as to who the winner will be.

Since this is an international race, Australia receives visitors from all over the world. Each of the ladies dress in the latest fashion, and it becomes quite a fashion show. The Tuesday of the Melbourne Cup is celebrated more than any other day in Australia.




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