Melbourne Cup Celebrations 2010.
History of the Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia 's major Thoroughbred horse race . Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is a race for three-year-olds and over, over a distance of 3,200 metres. It is the richest and most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in the world. The event is held at around ten to 3 pm on the first Tuesday in November by the Victoria Racing Club , on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne .
The race has been held since 1861 (see list of Melbourne Cup winners ) and was originally held over two miles (about 3,218 metres) but following preparation for Australia's adoption of the metric system in the 1970s, the current race distance of 3,200 metres was established in 1972. This reduced the distance by 18.688 metres (61.31 ft), and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3min.19.1sec was accordingly adjusted to 3min.17.9sec. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3min 16.3sec. The world record of 3:13.4 over 3,200 metres is held by Japanese horse Deep Impact .
The total prize money for the 2010 race will be AUD $6 million, plus trophies valued at $125,000.[6] The first 10 past the post receive prizemoney, with the winner being paid $3.3 million, down to tenth place which receives $115,000.[7] Prizemoney is distributed to the connections of each horse in the ratio of 85% to the owner, 10% to the trainer and 5% to the jockey.
After the Melbourne Cup luncheon
Everyone dresses up for the Melbourne Cup. The ladies wear beautiful outfits and a fascinator or hat.
The men wear suits. The race starts at 2:00pm.