Melbourne Cup

Okay, about time i got around to detailing my maiden Melbourne Cup outing.

So this was last Tuesday, right after i had an exam in the morning, and having had just 3 hours of sleep the previous night. Rushed home from REB to quickly get changed, and off we went to Flemington Racecourse.

Before i go further i must admit my total lack of knowledge as to anything horse racing related, apart from Makybe Diva’s record breaking feat of winning 3 consecutive Melbourne Cups. Whilst on the train there i was asking how many horses would be out on track, as i presumed it would be something like swimming or athletics, whereby there are preliminary rounds eliminating all but the best 8 horses. Little did I know there would actually be 22 horses on track.

Anyway, arrived at about 2pm, by which time the sun was shining down radiating its heat and the sky devoid of any protective cloud cover. What struck me at first was the very raw smell permeating the racecourse. I’ve no idea where that smell emanated from, maybe horse droppings, who knows, but it sure wasn’t a very pleasant smell.

Made our way to a small patch of grass which had been reserved by the rest who had arrived in the morning. This was our tiny spot...

Amongst the vast multitude of people.

There were only 4 races left by the time I got there, the next one being the much vaunted Melbourne Cup. Decided to randomly place some bets, which didn't go too well considering my betting knowledge was zilch. I was confronted with a plethora of betting options such as trifecta, quieniala, exacta, win and place. Decided to play safe and went with the 3 favourites – Purple Moon, Master O’ Reilly, and Zipping. Well, i didn’t know that i had to state the horse number to place my bet, so i went up to the counter and said “Can i place a bet on Purple Moon, Master O’....” But before i could complete my sentence, the cashier interjected, “What’s the horse number?” which obviously i didn’t know. Had to hold up the queue momentarily while i found out the horse numbers. Silliness. Betting can be stressful. Haha.

Anyway, i spent a grand total of... wait for it..... $8, which is a pittance when compared to everyone else who seem to be whipping out wads of $50 notes. I guess it's no surprise then that Australian punters bet a total of $145 million on the outcome of just this 200 second race.

Anyway, as the race time approached, we pushed our way to the front of the open area to get a better view, and this is what we saw..

The horses coming around the corner...

Running right by us

And then they were gone.

Just like that, in less than 10 seconds, and i couldn’t even tell who was ahead. All the horses looked the same. Seriously. haha.

Some pictures...

Beautiful AIESEC girls..

Ex-IHers..

AIESEC contingent

A portion of the more than 100,000 people in attendance

Oh, and a mention should also go to Tristan’s bout of ingenuity. You see, the racecourse has a rule whereby no outside alcohol is allowed in, my guess being so that the concession stands can milk even more money out of everyone. So what did Tristan do? He filled zip lock sandwich bags with alcohol, and disguised them by putting them inside Shapes boxes. There was even a bun in which he cut out the insides so that he could hide a Tupperware of alcohol in it. Might be silly, but pure genius. haha.

So yeah, I managed to garner a return of $4.10 from my intial outlay of $8, with Purple Moon coming in 2nd, and Zipping narrowly missing out on 3rd place, which undoubtedly is a loss. I didn’t realise how unpredictable horse racing is, unlike say football whereby there is a pretty high chance that the favourite will win. Which reminds me, i still haven’t collected my winnings....

Overall, it was a decent experience. At least i’ve now gotten a feel of what goes on in “the race that stops a nation”. I guess most of the ppl who attended too didn't turn up so much for the horses than for the one a year chance to dress up to the nines, have a good time, and maybe consume copious amounts of alcohol. The temperature was probably a bit too hot for to be dressed in a suit, and causing the girls sun-burnt shoulders, but it was fun... =)

Other photos of the girls in their lovely dresses, hats, and fascinators.