The race takes place on a lush 3,000-meter circuit with slender horses aged 3 and up. The prize for the winner can be up to 6 digits and 85% of the amount of this prize goes to the owner of the horse, 10% to the instructor of the animal and only 5% to the jockey, who does the work.
The horse race in Australia is also a mega fashion event that national and international celebrities and VIPs attend and at the end of the day a prize is even awarded for the best look.
It is certainly considered a must for every woman to wear incredible, beautiful and sometimes really bizarre hats created for the occasion by local or international designers.
Yes, the hats are the real protagonists of these races. Of the horses almost no one remembers any more since the attention is concentrated to admire or mock the hats of the ladies: in all shapes and colours, fabric, size and shape, elegant, sober or eccentric, bizarre or artistic, this object sometimes really touches the limits of ironic and ridiculous.
Another element that characterizes the Flemington race week is flowers and roses in particular, which reach their peak in this spring season here.
In fact, over 10,000 roses and more than 200 varieties of various flowers are cared for throughout the week by some of Australia’s most famous gardeners.
Each event has a flower that officially sets it apart: Victoria Derby Day has its beautiful blue cornflowers, the yellow rose for Melbourne Cup Day, the pink rose for Oaks Day and the red rose during Stakes Day.
Also, during the whole week around the Flemington racecourse there are beautiful shows, live concerts, funky and highly disputed parties organized in the stands of great sponsors such as airlines, fashion designers, department stores and other local producers. At these parties, you can meet famous people such as TV anchor men, singers and models.
The race is broadcast on television and is seen every year by about hundreds of million of people worldwide. While in the state of Victoria it is more or less a holiday for everyone, in the rest of Australia it is a normal day (although in many they ask for a day off) but from south to north, from east to west, the Australians interrupt any activity to follow, at 3pm, on the radio, on TV, via the internet or on the big screens of shopping centres, the glorious Melbourne Cup. They drink loads of beers, bubbles (sparkling wines) and feast on grilled meats, hoping to win the many bets made on the horses.
Beyond the passion or not for horses, the Spring Carnival happening around this time, is undoubtedly an impressive event, which offers all Australians a week of pure relaxation, fashion and authentic fun, an event not to be missed.
In Anglo-Saxon countries, horse races have for centuries been a much-followed event accompanied by various aspects of social life: parties, aperitifs, fashion shows, food feasts and much more.
The city is invaded by a stream of very elegantly dressed people who show off the best outfit in their wardrobe.
All this popularity and interest have made this race known as ‘the race that stops the nation’.
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