Melbourne Cup Day – Tuesday 5 November 2024
What a fabulous spectacle the Melbourne Cup is for the city of Melbourne and the 2024 version was an absolute cracker!
A glorious day dawned on the first Tuesday in November and the sun shone without a cloud in the sky for most of the day. Temperature for the Cup was a very pleasant 25-26 C and the crowds came out to play. A figure of 91000 people were quoted as being in attendance at Flemington and the fashions on the field were spectacular.
The Peak
We had the great fortune to be able to have reserved seats in “The Peak” which is the top level of the old Grandstand.
So after a short 20 minute train ride from Flinders Street Station direct to Flemington station, we alighted from the carriage to be met by 2 of our friends from Blairgowrie who had travelled in the same train. Small world! Anyway, after determining they had a runner in the Cup and were dining in “The Chairman’s Lounge”, we knew we probably would not see them again on the day.
Finding our seats, and introducing ourselves to another couple sharing our table, we were able to settle in for a very enjoyable day. The $100 food and drink voucher was soon gone as was the first bottle of Mumm, but to be fair, we thought food and beverage pricing was not too steep.
Backing a Winner
Initial punting was successful with collects on almost all races leading into the Cup made us feel that this was our year!
So after the pre race presentation of cup, jockeys, flag waving etc, it was time for the start of the great race – 3pm. As always, having asked the kids for a horse to back and having a number of random trifecta and first four bets myself, I had 20 individual bets on the cup.
The View
Positioning ourselves overlooking the clocktower, was possibly the best viewing point you could hope for on a day with such a crowd. A truly spectacular position and as the horses left the gates and charged down the straight the first time past the clock tower you can see from the picture above what a great view we had of the action.
The Finish Line
The crowd was certainly into the race with a roar erupting as Jamie Kah on Okita Soushi charged to the lead with about 150m to go and looked to have pinched the Cup with an early run. But as the old adage goes – wait for the clocktower – the swoopers came for her and Warp Speed and Knight’s Choice claimed the lead in the last 50 metres. With the 80 to 1 shot Knight’s Choice, ridden by the singing jockey Robbie Dolan claiming the prize and the $750k gold cup.
What a fabulous story for the underdog horse , the second cup for trainer Sheila Laxon and the first for co trainer John Symons.
So To Sum It All Up
Loved the day, the atmosphere, the venue and facilities. A small place collect on Warp Speed manged to salvage some financial return and the day finished beautifully with a couple of quiet G&T’s at the floating bar on Southbank called the Yarra Bottanica.