World's greatest races to move the party to when Melbourne Cup is over
COULDN'T make it to the Cup? Landed a dud in the office sweep? Keep the champers handy for these trackside fun alternatives.
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WITH the champagne and fascinators out in force, the fun doesn't have to end with the race that stops a nation.
While the Melbourne Cup is Australia's biggest horse race - cause enough for a public holiday in Victoria and more than a few sore heads elsewhere - it is just one of a host of similar celebrations that capture the attention of sports-lovers and partygoers worldwide.
In celebration of Melbourne Cup Day, we take a look at some other famous races that rely on horsepower of one type or another.
The Camel Cup
It's in the same country as the Melbourne Cup, but it might as well be a world away, with beer and snags - rather than champagne and canapes - likely to be the order of the day. Australia's pre-eminent race for camelids began in 1970 as a race between two mates along the dusty bed of Alice Springs' Todd River. Today, it draws about 5000 people from all over the world to the central Australian town on the second Saturday in July each year. Temperamental, totally unpredictable and sometimes just plain hacked-off, camels compete in nine races throughout the course of the day, sometimes running in the correct direction but always providing entertainment. And if camel racing leaves you cold, belly dancers, rickshaw races and the awarding of the Mr and Miss Camel Cup keep things bouncy between races.
Kentucky Derby
In the US it's known as the most exciting two minutes in sport. For outsiders, it can be blink-and-you-miss-it event as the field of three year-old thoroughbreds thunder around the one-and-a-quarter mile (2km) dirt track. Held on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs racecourse in Louisville, Kentucky, the 139 year-old Kentucky Derby is the most popular horse race in America, attracting massive television audiences, the rich-and-famous and $2 million in prize money. When not watching the horses go around, spectators throng the infield to down mint jelup - an iced drink made from bourbon, mint and sugar syrup - and make merry, proving that while the race may not last much more than two minutes, the party goes all day.
Monaco Grand Prix
For the jetset beloved of horsepower of another kind, the jewel in the Formula 1 calendar is the annual Monaco Grand Prix. Winding its way along a twisting 3.34km street circuit overlooking the azure waters of the Mediterranean, the Grand Prix may no longer provide the best racing in the F1 calendar, but without a doubt provides the best opportunities for posing and partying. A-list celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Michael Douglas are drawn to the race, held in May each year, like moths to a particularly bling light, while a flotilla of luxury yachts belonging to obscure European nobility and Russian oligarchs lie anchored in the harbour and serve as temporary party spaces.
Palio di Siena
As much an expression of culture and politics as a sporting contest, the Palio is a horse race held twice a year, in July and August, around the main square of the medieval Tuscan city of Siena. First run in 1656, ten horsemen - each representing one of the city's wards - ride bareback around the Piazza del Campo three times. The Palio is preceded by a colourful pageant that attracts spectators from around the world. While the horses invariably finish the 90-second sprint, it is common for riders to be thrown off as they negotiate the tight turns.
Grand National
Loved and despised in equal measure for its fence jumps that frequently end in carnage, the Grand National is one of Britain's biggest sporting events. Held each April at Aintree racecourse near Liverpool, the four-mile, three-and-a-half furlong (7.14km) race is a battle of attrition as horses negotiate 30 steeplechases in order to reach the finish. First run in 1839, the race is considered the ultimate test of horse and rider and takes on a carnival atmosphere. However, it has become the increasing focus of protests by animal rights activists, who have slammed the race as cruel following the deaths of numerous horses over the years.
The Mongol Derby
The windswept Mongolian steppe is the focus for the world's longest horse race - a bum-busting 1000km epic through hailstorms, downpours and oppressive heat which takes riders across some of the world's most awesome scenery. The Derby, which completed its fifth edition in August, was originally conceived as a recreation of the ancient Mongol postal system in which a network of 25 horse stations spanned the wilds of northern Asia and helped hold the medieval Mongol Empire together. Described as "like the Tour de France crossed with Snakes and Ladders", hardy competitors from across the globe exchange their semi-wild steeds at each station and bed down with local nomadic families in traditional gers when night falls. Of 30 competitors willing to brave the 2013 edition, only 18 finished.
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