Off the track: Celebrities, colour and glamour at the Melbourne Cup
UPDATE: MELBOURNE Cup day is in full swing with thousands of racegoers packing Flemington for the race that stops a nation.
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MELBOURNE Cup day is in full swing under a blue sky, as tens of thousands of racegoers pack Flemington for the race that stops a nation.
Punters, fashionistas and equine fans are enjoying a fine sunny day at the races with a top temperature of 24C and one of the best fields in the event's history on the cards.
Emirates guest model Kate Upton headed straight up to the balcony at Emirates and made a new friend with Buddy Franklin.
The pair chatted, smiled and laughed for the cameras with lots of eyes on them.
Franklin was in the same marquee and the same spot on Saturday with his girlfriend Jesinta Campbell.
Campbell wasn't at the races yesterday - she was rehearsing all day today for Dancing With The Stars.
Franklin hasn't commented about Campbell, but one friend told Confidential that he was head over heels for the former Miss Australia.
Earlier in the day Upton was very well received when she arrived in the Emirates marquee.
AS always Brynne Edelsten turned heads as she entered the Birdcage with her husband, Geoffrey.
"I'm wearing my friend's label, she owns a shop called Red Carpet Boutique in Moonee Ponds," she said.
"She customized it for me."
Edelsten is still putting the final touches to the second series of My Bedazzled Life.
"I've got a couple more stories to film, hopefully it will go to air January or February."
Other celebrities included tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt, actor Stephen Curry, footballers Steve Johnson and Jimmy Bartel and former Aussie cricket captain Ricky Ponting.
BEC and Lleyton Hewitt looked very glamorous in the Swisse Day spa. The Hewitts are a regular in Melbourne on Cup Day.
They will spend the next few weeks back in Australia other than a quick trip to Argentina for an exhibition match.
They are based in the Bahamas now - and Hewitt said his children, Mia, 8, and Cruz, 4, and Ava, 3, did not travel to every tournament these days.
"They love travelling but they go to school where we are base, they only come to the major tournaments and its about juggling everything with their schooling commitments."
The Hewitts spent time in the Swisse Day spa before basing themselves in Emirates for the Cup.
The tennis player had a great year on court - nearly back in the top 50.
"I play a lot less tournaments these days then the other guys and I didn't play much on the clay, so with all that considered I felt like I played pretty well the back end of the year and the big tournaments like the US Open and the Davis Cup."
PUSHING the boundaries for the blokes fashion was Luke Jacobz.
The host of The X Factor was wearing a vintage Gucci suit.
Other names at the track include Jennifer Hawkins and Kris Smith, who are in the Myer marquee.
AS for Dita Von Teese, she was very generous with her time after being greeted by a media scrum.
ANOTHER big name in Emirates was Geri Halliwell.
Immediately after she arrived she put $500 on the nose on Fiorente.
Halliwell is renting a house from Gai Waterhouse in Sydney and she was keen to bet on the horse. "I haven't met her (Gai) but I thought it was a nice thing to do."she said.
She was dressed in one of her outfits at the Cup yesterday.
"I did have something else but I just wanted to put on something that is comfortable.
"I think for me fashion is not being a slave to fashion, it's almost like what you choose to wear is about who you are and not following anybody else."
The former Spice Girl and judge of Australia's Got Talent arrived to a strong media pack at Emirates and she out $500 on the nose for Fiorente.
THOSE in Melbourne attending today's race were urged to purchase tickets online, at Federation Square or at Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations with none to be sold to the general public at the gate.
Racegoers were alsourged to use public transport with traffic gridlock likely around the track.
Police warned drink drivers and trouble makers they would be out in force before, during and after the 3pm feature race.
COVER girl Kate Upton is the VRC and Emirates special guest for the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
The blonde beauty, who has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated for the past two years and was crowned 2013 Model of the Year, arrived in town yesterday ahead of the big race today.
"I'm so excited to be here. It's horses, fashion and all the things I love," she says.
Raised in Melbourne, Florida, Upton says she's thrilled to finally get the chance to see the other Melbourne she has heard so much about.
"My Melbourne is a very small surf town, so it's totally different," she says.
"When I first started modelling people got confused between the two cities."
Upton was a special guest of Emirates in the airline's exclusive marquee today, as well as a VIP guest in the VRC Committee Room before attending the Emirates Melbourne Cup presentation in the Mounting Yard.
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ONE family missing in the Emirates tent were the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his daughters Frances and Bridget Abbott.
Confidential understands that the girls were invited, but they could not make it because of a scheduling conflict.
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