Cup Day

Melbourne Cup Day is fixed for the first Tuesday in November and it is Australia"s most famous Tuesday. It is held at Flemington, a Melbourne suburb that is called after a butcher who once lived there.
The Melbourne Cup race is recognised as one of the World "s greatest handicap races.
The Tooheys New Melbourne Cup is more than just a horse race - it is also a 142- year old social and cultural tradition that literally brings Australia to a standstill.
The Tooheys New Melbourne Cup is truly the race that stops a nation.
Tuesday, 5 November 2002 at 3:10pm, Flemington went crazy for the start of the 142nd Melbourne Cup. Emotions were running high, especially for Damien Oliver.
Seven years ago, Damien won the Melbourne Cup on Doriemus. Seven days ago, Damien"s brother was killed after falling off his horse in a trial run.
This was Damien"s day. Damien Oliver, riding on Media Puzzle, was Australia"s emotional favourite on the lead up to the race.
The first 2200m of the Cup were dominated by Sandmason, but in the last few hundred metres, Media Puzzle charged forward, to win by 2 lengths, at the time of 3:16.9. Damien Oliver"s mount won, followed by Mr Prudent with Beekeeper third. Media Puzzle is trained by Dermot Weld.
Helped by the annual invasion of classy northern hemisphere-trained stayers, the Cup has also leapt onto the world stage.
Last year, 329, 467 people attended the Melbourne Cup Carnival over the four days. AAMI Victoria Derby and Crown Oaks Day saw crowds of 93,029 and 101,201 respectively.
In 2001, television coverage of the Cup will be carried live or in packaged form to an international audience of around 700 million, in 170 countries and territories.
The Spring Carnival generated an estimated $A331m in revenue in the state of Victoria, with $A22.5m being spent on fashion alone.
Another million watched on Sky TV in clubs, pubs and TABs, while an estimated 12 million Australians tuned into the race on their radios. Direct coverage of the race penetrated approximately 85% of the entire population of Australia.
This is surely proof that while only Melburnians enjoy an official holiday on Cup Day, the rest of Australia is still caught up in Cup Fever as office, club and even school sweeps become more popular than ever.
There is also the astonishing one- day love affair with the punt, when an estimated $100m is bet nationwide on the one race.
The Tooheys New Melbourne Cup is now worth an impressive $2 million to the winner"s connections, who also receive a three-handled gold "Loving Cup" valued at $60,000 (total prize money for the race is $4.075 million).
There are also two $6,500 miniature gold Cup trophies presented to the winning trainer and jockey, the latter also receiving a trophy of the mounted gold-plated Wirth"s Whip.