Melbourne Cup 2019: Royalty, Hollywood, athletes hit the turf
Local celebrities dominated the field, with sportspeople and models setting the pace.
In the Birdcage local celebrities dominated the field with sportspeople and models setting the pace for royalty, Hollywood and the fastest man in the world.
Jesinta Franklin was a guest at the Bumble marquee while she said her husband Buddy was probably watching the big race at a pub in Sydney with a few mates.
Franklin said she didn’t usually have a bet but Buddy took things more seriously and would probably like to have a stake in a horse.
“But we have a baby on the way that’s going to suck all the money out I think,” she said.
Franklin said race day fashion was about being classic, elegant and timeless. She said she was wearing a “comfortable” custom Camilla & Marc dress.
“It’s very important to be comfortable at the races and even more important to be comfortable at the races when you’re pregnant,” she said.
Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn said he had combined about half of his 10 different suits to pull together his outfit, focusing more on the horses.
Gawn has stakes in a few horses, all of which have yet to finish top three, as well as a stake in a jaffle food truck which was at Flemington Racecourse.
“The last few years I’ve been here losing money, so (the food truck) will be good,” he joked.
“If only I could have my own horse and find my own way to the Melbourne Cup.”
Glenn McGrath chose his RM Williams boots for the big day but left the rest of the outfit details to his wife Sara Leonardi, who tie-dyed a pocket square to match her outfit colours.
“I don’t get to choose my outfit, I just put on what I’m told,” he said.
As one of Australia’s all-time cricket greats, McGrath said he loved other sports and had watched the Cup growing up in the country.
“It’s one of the biggest events on the Australian sporting calendar,” he said.
On the international side, Lady Kitty Spencer, the niece of the late Lady Diana Spencer, made an appearance as a guest of Lexus and the Victoria Racing Club
“My first time visiting Australia was for the Melbourne Cup so there’s sentimental value for me to be back here but also it’s such an iconic Australian tradition,” she said.
“It’s just something that I’m so happy to have been invited back to and I’ve hoped to come back.”
Hollywood director Paul Feig, in Australia promoting his latest movie Last Christmas, looked dapper in a bespoke Saville Row suit at Kennedy.
“I am my own stylist,” he said.
“Once you get in a bespoke suit there’s no going back. You get used to the fit, used to the style.”
Feig recently attended Royal Ascot for the first time, having wanted all his life to wear a morning suit, and said the Melbourne Cup was a bit more for the “free spirit” with their outfits.
A keen punter Feig said he always bets to win.
“(It’s like) a movie, only when you win will the studio let you keep making movies,” he said.
Of all the actors he’s worked with, Feig said Melissa McCarthy would make the best horse trainer.
“She’s tough enough but fun enough, both to encourage the horse and terrify the horse,” he said.
The world’s fastest man Usain Bolt made an appearance at Mumm, enjoying champagne, the races and dressing up in a suit.
“I feel like I look very nice in a suit,” he said.
“I definitely enjoy dressing up and I enjoy seeing just everybody. I’m fascinated by the hats you guys wear and everybody comes out and has a good time, the energy. (It’s) just wonderful, a lot of beautiful people together.”
Bolt said he has always enjoyed coming to Australians and meeting the locals.
“For me, it’s almost like Jamaica. The people are very laid back, not too crazy,” he said.
Actor Lindsay Lohan is at Network Ten’s marquee. Lohan is currently a judge on the network’s reality singing show The Masked Singer.
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