Melbourne Cup Carnival officially launched at Flemington
The 17,000 rose bushes are blooming as Flemington puts the final touches on preparations for one of the biggest weeks on Melbourne’s sporting and social calendar — the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
VIC News
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The Melbourne Cup Carnival kicked off in style on Monday with the city’s biggest week of racing celebrated at Flemington.
VRC chairman Amanda Elliott welcomed guests to The Park entertainment precinct and called for punters to support the stellar week of racing.
“The wait is now over, five days to go until the 2019 Melbourne Cup Carnival begins, Flemington looks stunning and the sun is out,’’ Mrs Elliott said.
“The 17,000 rose bushes are blooming and people everywhere are putting the final touches to their preparations for the most glamorous, the most exciting and the most compelling week of international horse racing, Cup Week, where we celebrate the best of everything and in particular our beautiful horses.”
The launch was Network Ten’s first official racing engagement with hosts Matt White and Jennifer Keyte talking to racing identities, fashion and food experts.
The three-handled trophy was brought to the stage by three-time Lexus Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy, his wife Cathy and their four children.
The VRC is celebrating the trophy’s 100th anniversary — it was first presented to Artilleryman in 1919.
As revealed in the Herald Sun,the VRC will pledge 10 per cent of all public ticket sales and 5 per cent of VRC membership fees to the club’s Equine Wellbeing Fund.
Racing Victoria will spend $25 million on a plan to track retired racehorses, rehome them and set up a welfare taskforce to prevent cruelty.
For Carnival ambassador Tegan Martin, the thrill revolves around the Birdcage buzz.
“For me, it’s exciting to see which celebrities attend each year and I’m really looking forward to seeing Nicole Trunfio return to The Birdcage on Kennedy Oaks Day,” she said.
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Cup carnival attendances have consistently exceeded 300,000 across the four race days since the turn of the century, though last year’s total of 303,587 was the lowest since 1999.
At the launch were champion jockeys Damien Oliver and Corey Brown, trainer Gai Waterhouse, VRC ambassador Georgia Connolly, Myer Fashions on the Field ambassador Crystal Kimber and Very Special Kids ambassadors Olivia Molly Rogers and Shane Delia.