They call it “the race that stops a nation” but the whole world will be watching when one of horse racing’s marquee events, the Melbourne Cup, celebrates its 156th year today.
With an estimated global audience of around 700 million people in 120 countries, the Melbourne Cup is the richest turf race in the world with its AU$6.2 million purse attracting runners from Great Britain, Germany, Japan, the USA, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia this year.
But while foreign horses have gained the upper hand in recent times as their numbers grow, picking the winner has remained as difficult as ever – a fact highlighted by 100/1 shot Prince of Penzance’s stunning victory 12 months ago.
Since it was first run in 1861, the pre-race favorite has prevailed just 32 times with the most recent being Fiorente in 2013. Perhaps more notable, though, is the fact that northern hemisphere horses have won 10 of the 16 Melbourne Cups since the turn of the century. It follows a gradual rise in northern hemisphere entries from eight in 2012 to 11 this time around including favorite Hartnell.
However, only four of those 11 have raced on Australian soil this spring. The one and only time an international entrant has stepped off the plane and won without a warm-up race was back in 1993 with Vintage Crop.
As for us? There is a reason professional punters steer clear of this race, with so many variables and a monstrous 24-horse field to contend with. We won’t be betting but we’ll be in the minority with Australia alone expected to wager almost AU$1 billion on the 2016 Melbourne Cup.
