The Melbourne Cup
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The Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup: Australia's Richest Horse Racing Event
It is the stuff of which legends are made!
On the first Tuesday of November, at 3.20pm, all Australia comes to a standstill. It is the running of the Melbourne Cup, still Australia's premier horse race with prizemoney of A$3 million (about US$2.1 million depending on the rate of exchange at the time), and Melbourne Cup fever fills the day completely. Unless there are scratchings, 24 horses line up at the barrier at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne for the 3200-metre (3488-yard or 0.518-mile) race which has become a national passion.
Right from opening time, and starting from the previous day even, there is a constant stream of punters coming in a for a flutter on the Cup.
There's hardly anyone who doesn't place a bet on the Melbourne Cup, and the TAB pool runs into several millions of dollars.
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| Sherril Steele-Carlin |
