The Melbourne Cup. The ultimate staying event.
Each year, the best stayers from around the world gather in Melbourne to fight out the handicapping championship of the world. The battleground - the hallowed headquarters at Flemington . The players - tough, courageous, strong. The distance - the grueling 2 miles run under Australian racing conditions - never an inch given and none expected with often the pace on from start to finish. The maximum field of 24 riders and runners literally stop the nation as they thunder down the straight the first time with everyone glued to a radio or television screen wherever they may be. The last 300m of the race is perhaps the most famous part of any Australian race and is replayed time and time again.
The Melbourne Cup is the time honoured event in Australian horse racing. It's history spans most of this mighty nations past and is a backbone event on the annual sporting calendar. Like many Cup events around the country, the same horses often contest the event in multiple years with their first attempt usually being the most successful.
For the lastest on the Melbourne Cup visit the Melbourne Cup comment on the Monday before the big race...
Relive some previous events, in print with comments, showing the horses position, in lengths from the leader at around the 600m mark, their run on and final finish position.
