The Melbourne Cup racing grounds.
Image by Chris Phutully on Flickr.com.

Australia’s Derby Day, or the Melbourne Cup, is also known as “the race that stops a nation,” because everyone in Australia really does stop to watch this horse race! Horse racing is a very popular spectator sport in Australia and the Melbourne Cup is the biggest of all horse races in the country. In fact in the state where this horse race is run, Victoria, the day of the Melbourne Cup is an official holiday! This race is held every year on the first Tuesday in November.

So, you might be asking yourself, what makes this race so special? First of all this race is very old, it has been run continuously for 154 years.  The very first race was held in 1861, at the same track where it is held today. Also, this is a very elite horse race. Those that run in this race have to qualify and only the very best of the best do. The Melbourne Cup is a 3,200-meter (2 mile) race, run on turf (or grass). The horses in the race must be 3 years old or older. Another reason this race is such a big deal is that it is considered to be the richest two-mile race in the world.  This year’s race collected a record $98 million in bets (bet = a sum of money that is risked on the outcome a race or game). No wonder everyone in Australia stops to watch this race – they all have money on it!

This year, the horse that won The Melbourne Cup is named Protectionist (protagonist = the leading character in a story). He is a 5-year-old horse, who was ridden in the Melbourne Cup by an English jockey (jockey = a person who rides in horse races as a profession), named Ryan Moore. Many people regard Moore as the best jockey in the world, so this was definitely a great horse-jockey pairing.

If you missed seeing this famous Australian horse race live, here is your chance to see it. Of course you can’t make any bets on the race now, since you already know who won, but you can watch to see how this great race unfolded. The horse that is ahead in the beginning “My Ambivalent” finished 17th (out of 22). The horse “Admire Rakti,” who was the favorite to win the race, was in second place most of the time, but ended up losing the race (and very sadly died soon after the end of the race). The winner of the race “Protectionist” is near the middle of the pack (pack = a group of animals) much of the race. Ryan Moore, is the jockey wearing a blue and checkered shirt. See if you can spot him. When there is only 100m left in the race Protectionist pulls away from the pack for the big win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnzlLHKyw1Q

This race is only three and half minutes long, but like I mentioned it makes the whole country of Australia stop.  Some people “stop” for the whole day, not going to work, and instead going to race day parties.  Parties, drinking, and betting, are a big part of celebrating and having fun on this day in Australia.  Apart from the horse racing, the other BIG event of the day is watching the fashion. Women wearing hats to horse races is a tradition in the English-speaking world and the hats worn on Derby Day are considered high fashion. Take a look below at some of the fun and crazy hats that are worn at horse races.

Image by Jaguar MENA on Flickr.com.

Even if you weren’t able to watch this race live, I hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about it and Australian culture.