Melbourne Cup

Annual Thoroughbred horse race in Melbourne, Australia

For the greyhound race, see Melbourne Cup (greyhounds). For the most recent race, see 2023 Melbourne Cup.

Horse race

The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest two-mile handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".^[1]

The Melbourne Cup has cemented itself as a part of Melbourne and Australian culture, having being run every year since 1861 (except for an intermission during World War I and World War II). The day of the race has been a public holiday for much of Victoria since 1876.^[2] It was originally run over two mi (3.219 km) but was shortened to 3,200 m (1 mi 1,740 yd) in 1972 when Australia adopted the metric system. This reduced the distance by 18.688 m (61 ft 3+3⁄4 in), and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3:19.1 was accordingly adjusted to 3:17.9. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3:16.3.

1. ^ "Melbourne Cup: how Australia's signature race lost its hold on the nation | Melbourne". The Guardian. November 2019. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
2. ^ "Why is Melbourne Cup Day a public holiday?". Public Record Office Victoria. Retrieved 7 November 2023.

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