During the first week of November in Melbourne, the fanfare surrounding Melbourne Cup week at Flemington catches the attention of every Victorian and attracts the eyes and ears of the racing world will over the eight day extravaganza.
The Melbourne Cup carnival will attract participants from all over the globe to challenge for top honours during the November 4-11 festival, but the week doesn’t stop there with Fashions in the Field, the Street Parade in downtown Melbourne and entertainment for every level of participant, no matter whether you wish to ‘dress to the nines’ or just have a barbeque on the expansive lawn.
World class racing will be on show with internationals from Europe to challenge the Australasian contenders during four days of high-class action. The G1 VRC Derby will be the first of the majors up for decision (a race famously won by Tavistock’s son Tarzino when trained by Mick Price) – now a successful stallion at Westbury Stud.
Day two at Flemington features the time-honoured G1 Melbourne Cup, followed by Ladies Day on the Thursday with the time-honoured Group 1 VRC Oaks. This Classic is another race Westbury has celebrated success in after Reliable Man’s daughter Miami Bound collected the G2 Wakeful Stakes (on Derby Day), before claiming glory in the Oaks for trainer Danny O’Brien and jockey Damien Oliver.
New Zealand-breds have a proud record at the carnival and most recently highlighted by Verry Elleegant’s Melbourne Cup victory in 2021 for the expatriate Kiwi duo of trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald. Prior to that, the Rich Hill Stud-bred Prince Of Penzance had created history in 2015 when he was guided to victory by Michelle Payne, the first female rider to win the great race.