Melbourne Cup? Neigh!

Here’s a drinking game for you in Australia in early November: take a sip of your favourite tipple any time someone mentions “the race that stops the nation”. Guaranteed to have got you drunk pretty quickly, much like most of the punters at the event.

But does this tired cliché still hold true these days?

One of the biggest events on the Australian calendar happens every year in Melbourne at 3 pm AEST on the first Tuesday of November...

No, it has nothing to do with elections in the USA.

It’s a horse race – the Melbourne Cup!

It’s almost unknown outside of Australia – something many Aussies find shocking (strangely). On that account, if you’re new to Australia, you probably have no idea what happens on this day, and very few locals will think to warn you either. So here are some tips to help you with the race that doesn’t really stop the nation anymore.

• It’s a public holiday in the Melbourne metro area. Yes, a day off for a horse race. Actually, many take the Monday off too for a four-day weekend. Don’t expect much to be happening in the rest of Australia though as many take half or the full Tuesday off too, though this is nowhere near as common now as it used to be.
• Melbourne goes all out for Cup Day. Thousands turn up in their finest. Elaborate hats (fascinators) for the ladies are de rigueur. Competitions such as Fashions on the Field make the looks the main focus of events and not the race.
• The hottest ticket is for the Birdcage Enclosure where the rich and famous (and plenty more wannabes) mingle. There’s an annual theme – in 2023 it was “unbridled”; 2024 was “rendezvous”; this year it’s “Garden of Gardens” (who thinks of these?). Every year, it’s ridiculous. Some “high-profile” international celeb gets flown in to prove how much this is a “major” event. Who’s this year’s biggest star? It’s Robbie Williams, who happens to be touring Australia now.
• Emulating the “glamour” at the racecourse are the numerous Melbourne Cup luncheons throughout Australia. Organised like staff Christmas parties, these range from informal afternoon teas in offices to elaborate events at hospitality venues where everyone dresses up as if they’re at the Cup.
• It used to be the thing that women around Australia would wear some sort of hat on the day, and workplaces would organise a “best hat” competition.
• I used to warn newcomers to Australia that with practically all workplaces taking time off around the race (hey, it’s “the race that stops the nation” after all – take a sip!), don’t even think of trying to conduct any business then. At best you’ll get no answer or at worst you’ll be on the receiving end of a very angry staff member. However, that’s not so much the case anymore, but it’s still best to keep this in mind.
• Cup Day is also usually the only time when many Aussies have a flutter (place a bet). Many workplaces also (used to) run a sweepstakes: everyone puts in a certain amount of money into a pool, you then pull the name of a competing horse out of a bag and if your horse wins, you win the pool. For you Aussies, be aware that sweepstakes like these at work are something that simply don’t happen in other countries. Some (mainly older) Aussies consider it “poor form” not to participate in the sweepstakes regardless of your reasons (against gambling, animal cruelty, etc.), and may make it quite clear or pull out some passive-aggressiveness if you’re not seen to be a teamplayer in this. Best just go with the flow.
• When the race is on, offices traditionally had the radio on or a TV would be wheeled in for everyone to follow the race. Even schoolchildren would be massed into assembly halls to watch it back in the day – I’m not joking about this! Now people watch it streamed via the net… if at all.
• Cup Day is unfortunately the scene of heavy drinking. The Aussie media and the socials are awash with photos and footage of well-dressed people completely legless (“extremely drunk”) after the race – not a good look. One time I got to witness two guys, all suited up but absolutely blotto, duke it out on the side of a road in Perth in the afternoon post-cup. Kla$$y!
• However, based primarily on animal welfare grounds (at least 7 horses have been killed in the past decade in race-related circumstances), popularity for the Melbourne Cup has waned considerably. A Guardian poll showed that two-thirds of those surveyed have low to zero interest in the race – unthinkable even a few years ago.

The long running but now cancelled (for the third time) Melbourne-set soap opera Neighbours also went to the Cup. Here they are, all dressed in their glad rags doing Melbourne Cup things…

Personally, apart from having done the obligatory workplace sweepstakes, there’s never been any flutter for me. I’m against gambling and the race has never interested me, despite the intense pressure from Australian society. And that pressure started early! I mentioned how schoolkids would be herded into assembly halls to watch the race – yes, I can vouch for that personally. One time, one teacher asked all the kids in my class which horse each one of us was going for in the Melbourne Cup. We had to give our answer in front of the whole class. When it came to my turn, I just said that I was going for the “South Australian horse”. Hey, I was only 9 years old at the time, couldn’t name a single horse (why would I?) and instinct told me parochialism works here to deflect. Luckily there was a South Australian horse in that race – it probably came last!

Anyway, now you’re in the know, you can either get fully involved in it if that’s your thing, or promptly ignore the race like so many other Aussies do.

Photo credit: Melbourne Cup 2007, when it was a big event. Photo by Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons