CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME
There is nothing in world racing quite like the Lexus Melbourne Cup. It is the most eagerly anticipated race in Australia and has been ever since its first running at Flemington in 1861. Today the Cup stops not only a nation. Thanks to our broadcast partners, it attracts a worldwide audience numbering into the hundreds of millions across more than 200 countries.
Wherever you are enjoying the excitement of the Lexus Melbourne Cup, the Victoria Racing Club extends the warmest welcome. On course, a world of excitement and hospitality awaits at famous Flemington. Cup Day is traditionally a public holiday for Melbourne. Meanwhile, Cup Day race meetings, lunches and celebrations are being held today all around the nation and beyond. For the past 22 years we have been connecting with regional and urban centres in Australia, New Zealand and overseas through the annual Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour. This year’s 18 carat gold trophy—the best- loved sporting trophy in Australia—has travelled thousands of kilometres, delighting thousands as the People’s Cup. Today it returns to the Mounting Yard in style, to be awarded to the winning owners. International visitors vying to win the great race have long been part of the tradition. New Zealand horses, after all, have been winning Melbourne Cups since the 1880s. Vintage Crop started a new era when he flew in from Ireland to win the 1993 Melbourne Cup. A hundred years ago the imported Backwood won the Cup after good wins on the English turf. He made the journey by sea, more than a year before his Flemington victory. Today once again, we welcome the world to the Lexus Melbourne Cup. Full of tradition and stories, but as modern as the excitement of this unique event at Flemington today.
Neil Wilson Chairman
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