No rain in sight for this year’s Melbourne Cup
Racegoers can leave their umbrellas at home, with sunshine forecast at Flemington for today’s Melbourne Cup.
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After a wet weekend, the weather gods are smiling on Flemington, with no rain forecast for today’s Melbourne Cup.
Revellers at Saturday’s Derby Day battled winds and heavy rainfall, but racegoers can expect fine and sunny conditions today — eliminating any chance of a weather-induced wardrobe malfunction.
The mercury is expected to rise to 16C at noon and should hit 18C for the main race at 3pm. A top of 19C is expected by 4pm before the temperature slowly dips at 6pm.
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The last time Flemington attendees encountered dry and mild conditions like these was in 2013, when the temperature reached 26C.
Since then, racegoers have battled either extreme heat (2014) or extreme wet (2018).
Last year, Flemington Racecourse was drenched with 35 millimetres of rain.
HOW WEATHER AFFECTS THE TRACK
Weather is key to the race — particularly the track’s conditions, with certain conditions better suited to certain horses.
Melbourne received more than 10mm of rain yesterday — though this was anticipated, so track managers were able to irrigate accordingly.
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Track conditions for @Lexus #MelbourneCup Day:
— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 4, 2019
Soft 6
Going Stick - All: 9.5
Rail: 3m pic.twitter.com/aArzMOm5ec
According to the Victoria Racing Club, the track today is a Soft 6 (a moist but not badly affected track) and is expected to stay in this range or get upgraded to a Soft 5 (a track with reasonable give in it) at some point during the day thanks to Flemington’s drainage.
Going stick: 9.5 — Inside 9.6 — Outside 9.2 — Shear 11.1
Rail: Out 3 metres
Irrigation: 24 hours — 0mm; Past 7 days — 23mm
Rainfall: Last 24 hours — 12.2mm; Last 7 days — 36.2mm.
Originally published as No rain in sight for this year’s Melbourne Cup