Melbourne Cup drenching doesn’t stop punters from letting loose

COPIOUS amounts of champagne and an afternoon of torrential rain created the perfect storm for Melbourne Cup revellers.

LITTLE showcases the fighting Australian spirit like a Melbourne Cup day with harsh weather conditions.

The first Tuesday in November can be a tricky one when it comes to weather. You could get gale force winds, searing heat, or a cold snap with driving rain.

The 2018 Melbourne Cup was one of the wettest on record. But that didn’t stop the punters soldiering on in their mission to tie one on in the general admission area.

What a gentleman. Picture: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Racegoers didn’t let the rain dampen their spirits. Picture: Dave Crosling/AAP

A woman slips on the wet floor. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Some came prepared with their own chairs. Picture: Dave Crosling

The aftermath: Picture: Dave Crosling/AAP

It was hard to avoid the mud. Picture: Dave Crosling/AAP

Some ladies just gave up. Picture: Dave Crosling/AAP

A racegoer loses her shoe in the mud. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Or just decided to go barefoot. Picture: Dave Crosling/AAP

But some of the rowdiest scenes seemed to have taken place outside Melbourne, with revellers at Sydney’s Royal Randwick racecourse enjoying the drier conditions.

Posing up a storm at Randwick. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Two men tussle on the lawn. Picture: Jason Edwards

Others were a bit unsteady on their feet. Picture: Jason Edwards

Ahead of the ‘race that stops the nation’, women at Flemington were creating tentlike structures out of umbrellas to shelter from the rain:

As the weather clears, a woman emerges from her umbrella cave.

Men were using freezer bricks in place of plastic cups so their drinks weren’t diluted by the driving rain:

Using a freezer brick as a oversized hip flask. Genius. Picture: Simone Mitchell

And plastic bags were used as everything from ponchos to shoes to flotation devices:

Punters arrive in the rain at Flemington. Picture: Jason Edwards

Sisters Taylor Harrang, 22, and Emma Harrang, 23 didn’t let the rain at Flemington ruin their trackside celebrations. Picture: Jason Edwards

Soaked through. Trackside revellers dance in the rain at Flemington. Picture: Jason Edwards

Emma and her cousin Amy, who travelled to Melbourne for the big day from Sydney, said the rain had created quite a scene for their very first Cup Day experience.

“It’s really ugly out here in the rain,” Emma, 24, said.

“When the sun comes out it’s good, but when the rain arrives it’s pretty miserable.”

The race that stops the nation sure did park a few punters under their umbrellas for most of the day. Picture: Jason Edwards

This guy should win best dressed.

Before the sun poked through around lunchtime, the rain left racegoers wrestling with the option of leaving the track to find some dry shelter.

Terry Evans, who has been working as a bookie for the Melbourne Cup since the early 80s, says today is the worst he’s seen in more than 40 years.

“Since 1976 when Ven der Hum won it’s never been as bad as this,” he told news.com.au from under his umbrella. “It’s just too wet to come out.”

Terry Evans and Paul Thompson said the rain event was one of the worst they'd seen on a Melbourne Cup.

Paul Thompson, who has worked more than 36 years at Flemington, says he’s hardly received a bet all morning.

“There has been three or four days similar to this in the past, but the rain was well spaced out,” he said.

“This is solid rain at the wrong time of the day.

“People are deciding whether they will come or not, it’s very hard to say yes to attending Melbourne Cup when you look outside and there’s heavy downpours like this.”

Despite a moment of sunshine, the mud was never going to dry up quickly. Picture: Jason Edwards

Punters in the mud at the 2018 Melbourne Cup Flemington. Picture: Jason Edwards

Racegoers were given a moment of respite at the time of the big race, with the sun soaking up some of the rain that pooled around general admission and throughout the exclusive, invitation-only Birdcage.

The 2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse. Fancy headwear in the crowd. Picture: Alex Coppel