The Origins of the Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is horse racing’s most distinguished competition in Australia within the epicentre of one of the esteemed cities that the country has to offer. With the Melbourne Cup now veering on the horizon, it’s due course that we reminisce how the cup raised to providence during its long withstanding history.
Fans of racing should all be sure to mark their calendars for the 2nd of November 2021 as one of racing’s most proficient and long withstanding competitions returns to our screens. This year marks 160 years since the competition’s establishment back in 1861 and has since become a must-watch for any fans of racing. And certainly a track worthy of venturing on any sporting fan’s bucket-list for venues to visit.
As well as having stupendous hospitality and etiquette fashion choices, the action on the racetrack will leave you anxious as the horse’s stray ever closer to the finish line.
Long Standing Tradition
The Melbourne Cup’s long tradition is to begin on the first Tuesday of November, always starting at 3pm, at Flemington Racecourse which is a 3,200-metre-long track with a total prize money of eight million dollars. The winner will be awarded $4.5 million with second place earning $1.1million, which further emphasises how monumental it can be to win such a prestigious race.
Before we delve into the origins of the Melbourne Cup, it’s also important to look at the current favourites for this year’s event with Incentivise touted as the perennial favourite and Spanish Mission as secondary. However, the cup has seen its fair share of upsets over the years as there has not been a single favourite that finished as winner since Fiorente back in 2013. And before that Makybe Diva who won consecutive cups from 2003 to 2005, so bear all that in mind if you are considering betting on the outlasting favourite.
Of course, there are hundreds of horse racing events happening every day, in every corner of the globe; The United Kingdom, The United States, Australia, The U.A.E to name a few. In many of these countries, betting and horse racing tend to go hand in hand, a long-standing tradition that goes back centuries. If you are considering placing a bet and you are looking for some racing tips for tomorrow then 888sport.com has all the information you need, along with some of the best odds out there.
Inauguration of the Melbourne Cup
With a considerable number of years since the event’s establishment, there is a wider abundance of history that has made the competition one of the most definitive in all of sports. The concept was originally proposed by Frederick Standish after the Port Phillip Turf Club was later leased by the Victoria Turf Club in 1848 with the Melbourne Cup later beginning their perennial competition in 1861 with Archer and legendary jockey John Cutts being named as the winners among 17 runners.
Archer would again win the following year’s event in 1862 before the Victoria Racing Club was established in 1864 after the Victoria Turf Club was dissolved due to increasing debts, meaning that they had acquired all of the VTCs races that included the Melbourne Cup.
This also saw a major increase in attendances to the event as there have been numerous incarnations of the competition that has seen over 100,000 fans pack into Flemington for this race as only 4,000 fans were to have been registered for the inaugural race.
Some of the race’s most notable winners have included Archer, Peter Pan, Rain Lover, Think Big and the aforementioned Makybe Diva who are the only horses to have won the event on more than one occasion with Archer and Rain Lover both enjoying the longest victory margin in the competition’s entire history tied at eight lengths.
How the Melbourne Cup has continued to develop
Much like other sporting events, the Melbourne Cup has strived and developed into one of the most televised events available in Australia as the 2020 event saw over 1.4 million viewers tune in which is a considerable dip from the earlier iterations of the event’s broadcasting that saw over 2.5 million viewers watch the annual race every year throughout the 2000s.
During that period, a new record was set for the highest ever attendance at the event with 122,736 eager spectators cramming into Flemington back in 2003 to witness Makybe Diva win her first of three consecutive cups becoming the first mare to win the cup on multiple occasions.
Since 1919, the winners have been presented with the Gold Cup which has an estimated worth of $95,000 further highlighting the cup’s value as a competition that welcomes the rich and famous. Of course, the main attractor to such an event is the gambling involved at a horse racing event and considering how challenging it can be to predict the winner of this event, it has likely further added to the thrill of seeing a highly lauded underdog shock those in attendance to win the cup.
With plenty of champagne and a unique fashion sense set in motion for spectators, the Melbourne Cup has continued to intrigue and gain further interest towards its target demographics and to the entire racing fan scene with the 2021 race sure to bring us plenty of jaw-dropping moments.
There is almost a near endless list of magnificent history and heritage tailored towards this event, which has made it a hot commodity amongst sports fans across the world and a beacon of intrigue in Melbourne. The city has an incredible array of sporting events that include the venues featured at the extraordinary Melbourne Cricket Ground (the site of the Ashes) and housing popular Australian football league side, Melbourne City FC, but this event in particular has all the capabilities of being the biggest that Australian sport has to offer this year.
While the likes of cricket and football are seen as being the primary sports associated with Australia, horse racing, and this annual event in particular, will continue to soar in television viewers and with fans returning to this year’s event on the 2nd of November, there is little time to waste in putting on your bets for the event.
As mentioned, be sure to follow any tips online ahead of the event should you be considering placing bets on any of the horses as there could be some ever-imposing upsets expected at the event from which we have seen an abundance of in the past.
