Cup Week

Cup Week

There is one event on the Australian horse racing calendar that far exceeds all others in popularity, bets, media coverage and status and that is the Spring Racing Carnival. This carnival runs for around 50 days annually in October and November, conveniently held between the football and cricket seasons. The highlight of the whole occasion is Cup Week, which is the week where the most famed horse race of them all takes place, the Melbourne Cup. Attracting record numbers of spectators and wagers every year, the Melbourne Cup is considered the pinnacle in horse racing for all trainers, owners, jockeys, punters and most everyone else in Australia.

Final 2017 Melbourne Cup Results

• 1st.Rekindling
• 2nd.Johannes Vermeer
• 3rd.Max Dynamite
• 4th.Big Duke

The Spring Racing Carnival is broken up into a series of meetings held by the metropolitan racing clubs, centred on one or more key Group 1 races. Cup Week, also known as the Cup Carnival or the Flemington Spring Carnival held at Flemington Racecourse, is the main attraction. Consisting of four race-days it has truly become an international event drawing competitors from all over the world. The other race meetings that the Spring Carnival comprises of are the Caulfield Carnival held by the Melbourne Racing Club and the Moonee Valley Carnival held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club.Cup Week

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The odds on the Melbourne Cup race is held on the first Tuesday of November each year, the second day of Cup Week, and its importance was made clear in 1877 when the city declared this day a Public Holiday. The Melbourne Cup Carnival has helped establish the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival as Australia’s major annual sporting event, generating millions of dollars in revenue for the state every year.

The Melbourne Cup Carnival or Cup Week is comprised of four individual, elite race days:

Day 1 Saturday – AAMI Victoria Derby Day

Day 2 Tuesday – Emirates Melbourne Cup Day

Day 3 Thursday – Crown Oaks Day

Day 4 Saturday – Emirates Stakes Day

MELBOURNE CUP WEEK 2017:

The 2017 Melbourne Cup Carnival will commence on Saturday November 4th with the AAMI Victoria Derby Day. The Emirates Melbourne Cup Day follows on Tuesday November 7th, with the Crown Oaks Day the next Thursday November 9th. Melbourne Cup Week finishes up on Emirates Stakes Day held the next Saturday November 11th, 2017.

VICTORIA DERBY DAY:

Derby Day marks the start of Melbourne Cup week, and its chief race is the Group 1 Victoria Derby, a set-weights race for three-year-olds run over a distance of 2500 metres. Every race on Derby Day has group status, which is why this day is so popular with punters and racing purists. First held in 1855, the Victoria Derby has run the longest out of all the classic horse races in Australia, and normally falls as race six of nine on the card.

MELBOURNE CUP DAY:

Inarguably the high point of the not only the Cup Week but the entire Spring Racing Carnival, the Melbourne Cup race ‘stops a nation’ around 3pm on this day. The on-course crowds sit on the edge of their seats, or push past one another to watch the greats battle it out on the turf, and the rest of Australia watch and listen, from wherever they are, to this superb race every year.

With over five million dollars in prize money up for grabs, the Melbourne Cup is the richest handicap race in the world, plus there are nine other races also held on this day, so it is one very lucrative opportunity for owners, trainers and jockeys. First held in 1861, some of the true champions in horse racing have made their name thorough their victories in the Melbourne Cup race including Makybe Diva and Phar Lap.

OAKS DAY:

Sponsored by the Crown Casino complex, this race day is known as Crown Oaks Day. The pivotal race of the day is the Group 1 VRC Oaks, for three-year-old fillies at set weights.

Traditionally, Oaks Day has been known as ‘ladies day’ as the ever popular Fashions of the Field competition has been held on this day since 1962, and is one of the peak events in the year for Australian fashion.

STAKES DAY:

Centred on the Group 1 VRC Stakes race, Stakes Day is also known as the Cup Week’s ‘family day’, with a variety of entertainment for all ages pleasing the crowds throughout the day. The VRC Stakes, open to horses of any age and sex, also concludes Group 1 racing for the Spring Carnival.

Considered a premier event, the VRC Stakes is Victoria’s richest 1600 metre horse race, with prize money of over one million dollars going to the winner.

FLEMINGTON RACE COURSE:

One of the world’s oldest and most magnificent racetracks, Flemington Race Course is situated only a few kilometres from the city centre of Melbourne. It has been used every year for horse racing since 1840 without disruption, and is now maintained by the Victorian Racing Club.

The race course is home to hundreds of horses in residence, and accommodates extensive training stables. This renowned track was placed on the Australian Government’s National Heritage List in 2006; recognised for its “importance in the cultural history of Australia because of its development into one of Australia’s premier racecourses.” The Flemington Race Course has spurred not only the Melbourne Cup, but a range of accompanying art and fashion breakthroughs as well.

Get up-to-date, quality horse racing news at HorseRacing.com.au.