9 Interesting Facts About Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's premier horse race, established since 1861 and held every year on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it has become a national tradition in Australia.

9 Interesting Facts About Melbourne Cup 

Peter St. Albans

1. The youngest jockey to win Melbourne Cup was Peter St. Albans on Briseis in 1876 - who was only 12 years old!





2. In 1915, the first woman owner to win was Mrs E.A. Widdis with Patrobas. First female jockey to ride in the cup was Maree Lyndon on Argonaut Style in 1987.

3. During WWII between 1942 and 1944, the race day was changed to Saturdays.

Jean Shrimpton 1965

4. Fashion on the Field begun in 1962 to attract more women attendees to the cup. British supermodel Jean Shrimpton made headlines in Australia and around the world when she rocked up to Melbourne Cup in 1965 in a sleeveless dress with a hemline four inches above the knee and a man's watch - which shocked race goers and caused a fashion furore worldwide.



5. In 1861, the winner of Melbourne Cup - a horse named Archer - walked all the way to Melbourne from his stables in Nowra, NSW!

6. Criminals tried to shoot Phar Lap on the morning of Saturday 1 November 1930 after he had finished track work. Luckily for Phar Lap, they missed.

7. Forensic investigation conducted by Dr. Ivan Kempson and Dermot Henry, found that Phar Lap had ingested a massive dose of arsenic 30-40 hours before his death, adding to the speculation that the champion horse was poisoned to death by gangsters.

Phar Lap

8. When trainer Harry Telford and owner David J. Davis saw Phar Lap for the first time, the horse was gangly, face covered with warts, and had an awkward gait. Davis was furious when he saw the colt, and refused to pay to train the horse. Telford at the time had not been a successful trainer, and Davis was one of his few remaining owners. As a compromise for the poor form of the colt, Telford agreed to train the horse for free, in exchange for a two-thirds share of any winnings.


9. The only horse to have won three Melbourne Cups - consecutively in a row - is Makybe Diva.


To celebrate this year's Melbourne Cup race day, Metro Apartments on Bank Place Melbourne is having this special for travelers coming to stay for the race!

Melbourne Cup Accommodation Packages - Choose either a...

Studio Room for $250.00 per room, per night (including free Wi-Fi)
OR
One Bedroom Apartments at:

• Friday - Saturday* - $300.00 per room, per night  (including free Wi-Fi)
• Sunday - $280.00 per room, per night                   (including free Wi-Fi)
• Monday - Tuesday*  $300.00 per room, per night (including free Wi-Fi)

For details and to book online: http://www.metrohotels.com.au/special/320
Or call: +61 3 9604 4321
Location: 18 Bank Place, Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia - only 14 minutes by car or taxi to the Flemington Racecourse!

This Year's Melbourne Cup - The International Influence

THIS year's Melbourne Cup will have an international influence like never before with more than half the 24-horse field likely to be overseastrained or raced horses.

Officials are predicting the international numbers for the $6.2 million race on November 1 are likely to be in "double digits". When factoring in the fully-qualified former overseas horses now trained in Australia and bought for the Cup, it seems certain there will be a record low number of local contenders.

At the release of weights last week, only seven Australian-bred stayers were estimated to be weighted high enough to make it into the field. While others can make it through qualifying races, only Absolutely (at five kilograms under the benchmark

weight), Dreamaway (5.5kg), Playing God (5.5kg), Once Were Wild (5.5kg), Alcopop (6kg) , linton (6kg) and Trusting (6.5kg) were the Austi'alianbreds with the right credentials.

As many as 16 hopefuls are in quarantine. The first plane-load has arrived last week while the second wave should arrive on October 15.

Highly rated hopefuls such as December Draw, Glass Harmonium, My Kingdom Of Fife, Hawk Island, and Lloyd WIlliams's team including Midas Touch and Mourayan, as well as the US horse Unusual Suspect, are recent arrivals to Australia after beginning their careers elsewhere.

The Godolphin stable will decide soon if Cavalryman (55kg) and Lost In The Moment (53kg) make the trip.

Her Majesty The Queen to attend the 2011 Melbourne Cup?

The latest royal news doing the rounds is that it is a distinct possibility that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II may attend the 2011 Melbourne Cup.

The Queen, a renowned lover of thoroughbred racing, was widely expected to be the guest of honour last year at the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup this year.

In 2011, the Queen is expected to be present at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth. CHOGM is a biennial forum for government leaders from Commonwealth nations.

The Queen is yet to miss a CHOGM since they were first held in 1971, and Defence Minister Steven Smith says that she is likely to be in attendance.

The summit is to be held in Perth from October 28-30.

The 2011 Melbourne Cup is to be held just two days later on November 1. The Queen is believed to be keen to visit the Melbourne Cup at least once. She is a keen follower of racing and is a prolific owner in England.

In 1997, her horse Arabian Story contested the Melbourne Cup – the grey finishing 6th to Might and Power.

While royal visits are not uncommon – Prince Charles and Princess Diana attended the 1985 Melbourne Cup, while the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson was present in 1990 – a visit by the monarch would represent another chapter in the great history of the Melbourne Cup.

Melbourne Cup Accommodation Package @ Metro Apartments on Bank Place - Metro Hotels

Metro apartments on Bank place is offering this Melbourne Cup Accommodation Package for $210.00* per night including:

Bottle of Sparkling Wine on arrival
Daily breakfast
Bathrobes
Late check-out of 12 noon

Melbourne Cup Accommodation Package @ Metro Apartments on Bank Place - Metro Hotels

Melbourne Cup – the Race That Fills a City - Metro Hotels

They call it "the race that stops a nation" but for the hotel industry, it is also a race that fills a city!

The famed Melbourne Cup horse race held on the first Tuesday of November every year, is one sporting event that is proving to be a consistent winner with Melbourne hotels and accommodation providers.

"The Melbourne Cup never fails to see our Metro Apartments operate at 100 percent occupancy for up to four days over the race meet." explains Mr. George Bedwani, COO of Metro Hotels and an avid follower of horse racing.

According to Mr Bedwani, the Melbourne Cup has maintained its popularity with the sporting public year after year while other major annual events in Melbourne fluctuate in popularity and the impact they have on the city's hotels.

"We have found that the Australian Open Tennis is only very popular if there is an Australian who does really well or if the top seeds are playing it out in the final," he said. "This years final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic just didn't have the pulling power despite the quality of the two players."

The same applies for the AFL Grand Final, according to Mr Bedwani. "When there is one or two interstate teams involved in the Grand Final then our occupancies and demand for accommodation soar."

While the 2010 Grand Final (both of them) between Collingwood and St Kilda were great spectacles to watch, they didn't generate the same demand for accommodation from interstate or regional Victorian visitors coming to watch.

"And that's where the Melbourne Cup is different," says Mr Bedwani. "It is not just a sporting event but a complete day out - a real social occasion." he continues.

Metro Hotels manages a boutique serviced apartment, the Metro Apartments on Bank Place located in the "New York" precinct of Melbourne CBD.

The Metro Apartments on Bank Place offers 55 studio, one and two bedroom apartments along with a small number of hotel rooms. The location of the apartments make it the ideal base for both corporate and leisure travelers visiting Melbourne.

READ ON at Metro Hotels News:

Melbourne Cup – the Race That Fills a City - Metro Hotels

Americain to defend his Melbourne Cup crown

It may be more than eight months away, but the 2011 Melbourne Cup has already had its first boost with confirmation that last year’s winner Americain will return to contest the race.
The French-trained, American-bred, Australian-owned galloper couldn’t have been more impressive when he surged past Maluckyday and So You Think to win the Melbourne Cup by a widening two and three quarter lengths.

Part owner Gerry Ryan told the Herald Sun that plans for the galloper were  to be confirmed this week.
Last year, Americain won four straight races in France before coming across for wins in the Geelong Cup and Melbourne Cup.

It is likely that trainer Alain de Royer Dupre will follow a similar path, with four runs in France before coming out for the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup.

Alternatively, he could run in one of the world’s greatest races, the Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe (2400m), but strict quarantine measures may mean that it is impossible.
Ryan is excited about the prospects of back to back Cup wins.

“Apparently he looks a million dollars, so here we come again,” Ryan told the Herald Sun.
“We’ve got the taste for it now.”

The Melbourne Cup will be run on November 1 this year.

Melbourne Cup accommodation available at Metro Apartments on Bank Place