2023 Melbourne Cup parade cancelled

The parade is a late scratching amid a growing protest movement against the iconic horse race – but the Victoria Racing Club says there will be an event in the city.

Trainer Gai Waterhouse at the 2022 Melbourne Cup Parade. Picture: Michael Klein

This year’s Melbourne Cup Parade has been cancelled amid a growing protest movement against the iconic horse race.

Victoria Racing Club chief executive officer Steve Rosich all but confirmed on Tuesday that this year’s parade was cancelled but said an event would still happen in the city.

“We look forward to unveiling our plans soon for Lexus Melbourne Cup eve celebrations,” he said.

“We have a longstanding ­relationship with the City of Melbourne and our plans this year will include a feature event in the city.”

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and Victorian Racing Club Chairman Neil Wilson at the 2022 Melbourne Cup Parade. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The cancellation of the parade comes amid continued protests against the Melbourne Cup because of animal welfare concerns.

Last year thousands of racing fans flocked to the CBD to get a glimpse of the Cup at the parade – the first event since Covid-19 lockdowns were ­enforced in Melbourne.

However, the event was marred with protesters heckling punters, officials and racing identities throughout the parade.

Melbourne Cup winners ­Almandin, Efficient and Twilight Payment were part of last year’s parade, thrilling race fans who were able to get a glimpse of three of the sport’s champions.

Cup-winning jockeys and trainers were also regular features of previous events.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp and trainer Gai Waterhouse ­attended last year’s celebration. The route was shortened and reversed in direction to reduce the disruption from protesters, but their presence was highly visible.

A City of Melbourne spokesman said no funding was ­requested by the Victorian ­Racing Club for the event this year and the organisation had not been part of any event planning.

The spokesman said the VRC had requested funding from the City of Melbourne to host the event in 2022 and 2024 through the Event Partnership Program.

The ­Melbourne Cup parade may return in 2024 with funding from the council.

The Nup To The Cup campaign has been heavily promoted by Greens representatives at a council and state level.

In 2019, City of Melbourne Greens councillor Rohan Leppert tried to move a motion to scrap council support for the parade.

However, the motion was amended and support continued for that year’s event.

The parade has run every year since 1983 except for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic lockdowns.