Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup Carnival. Tips, Winners and Past Results.

The Melbourne Cup is a Group 1 horse race for 3 year olds and over run under handicap conditions.

It is held at Flemington Racecourse on the first Tuesday in November annually and is contested over 3200 metres.

Prize money is worth $6,175,000.

Races such as the Group 2 Saab Quality or Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes on Derby Day are traditional lead up races to the Melbourne Cup.

The Melbourne Cup has become a global event since 1993 with a number of international horses from a variety of countries making the trek to Australia in a hit and run mission to win the big prize money on offer.

The Melbourne Cup was first run on 7th November 1861 over a distance of two miles.

Melbourne Cup Day is the first Tuesday in November and has been a public holiday for the city since the mid 1870s.

The Melbourne Cup is celebrated as a special day around the country.

The winner of the first Melbourne Cup, Archer (6/1), there was 17 in the field. First prize was a gold watch and £170.

His was the slowest winning time yet recorded for the race (3:52). The Cup was first presented to a winner in 1916. Since 1875 the Melbourne Cup has been run on the first Tuesday in November. This Melbourne Cup race attracted just 4000 people.  Over the next 20 years over 100,000 people would come to see the race.

The largest ever attendance for the Melbourne Cup was in 2000 when more than 120,000 people attended and saw Brew win the Melbourne Cup.

In 1972 the Melbourne Cup race was converted to the metric distance of 3200 metres which is 18.69 metres or 61.30 feet short of two miles. Read more trivia about the race

The 2009 Melbourne Cup was won by Shocking from Crime Scene with Mourilyan third.

2010 Melbourne Cup will be run on the 2nd November 2010.

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