Frontline heroes to present Melbourne Cup trophy in pre-race honour

Frontline workers will be honoured in a special Melbourne Cup moment at Flemington, in a day that will provide them with a welcome reprieve from the pandemic.

Mitchell and Anthony Burgess, Angela Maxwell and Callum James, Lisa Travis (front), Sahel Ghasemian and Nick Tenace. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Through the pandemic, aged care nurse Lisa Travis has comforted elderly people who have died without their families by their sides.

Paediatric nurse Angela Maxwell recently finished a stint of isolation after contracting Covid-19 on the job, where she also dealt with the heartbreaking loss of a patient with the virus.

Today the two nurses will represent all frontline workers when they bring in the Lexus Melbourne Cup trophy as part of the pre-race entertainment at Flemington Racecourse.

They are among 10 frontline workers who will get a reprieve from the physical demands and emotional toll of the pandemic, after winning a day at the Lexus Melbourne Cup in a Herald Sun and Victoria Racing Club competition.

Competition winners and their plus-ones will join up to 10,000 racegoers soaking up the trackside action at Flemington as part of the first Melbourne Cup crowd since 2019.

The pair will hand the iconic trophy to Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson ahead of the race that stops a nation.

Mitchell and Anthony Burgess, Angela Maxwell, Lisa Travis, Callum James, Sahel Ghasemian and Nick Tenace are all heading to the Cup after winning tickets in frontline worker competition. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Avid horse racing fan Ms Maxwell said she was excited to shed her scrubs and PPE for a day out with partner Callum James after a gruelling 20 months of nursing children, particularly after coming out of isolation just last week following her own brush with Covid-19.

“It’s just perfect timing. I just want to go to the races so much,” she said.

“I know I’m lucky to have a job, but it’s been exhausting.”

Ms Travis said caring for lonely elderly people isolated from their families through lockdowns had been gut-wrenching for aged care nurses and workers.

“To see how lonely (residents) were has been tough,” she said.

“To ring someone and say, ‘Your mum’s dying, we can Skype’, is really sad.”

Also attending Cup Day will be Anthony Burgess, who juggled his duties as an essential energy worker with caring for wife Jodie before she succumbed to cancer just two months ago.

Pediatric nurse Angela Maxwell.

Aged care nurse Lisa Travis.

Mr Burgess said he wanted to take son Mitchell, 22, to the Melbourne Cup to honour his late wife, who loved racing but never got to be trackside for the race.

“I know it’s going to be emotional walking in to Flemington,” Mr Burgess, 56, said.

“We were supposed to go last year but no one could go, so Jodie was hoping to go this year.”

He said his wife had been incredibly brave during her 10-year battle with cancer, which began shortly after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Fellow winner, hospital occupational therapist Sahel Ghasemian, said the Cup was a chance to forget the realities of busy frontline work for a day.

“It’s a day to let your hair down, put your best dress on, get together and get fabulous,” she said.

She will attend the Cup with partner Nick Tenace, her “rock” through the pandemic.

Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson said the club wanted to acknowledge and give thanks to the people on the frontline of the pandemic.

“(These) workers have been working day and night to care for our community over the past year and a half,” Mr Wilson said.

“We are delighted to welcome them to Flemington for Lexus Melbourne Cup Day.

“We hope this small gesture demonstrates our deep appreciation of their tireless efforts.”