Melbourne Cup will be different, but just as exciting

It is getting close to that time of the year when Australia’s most iconic horse race, the Melbourne Cup, will be contested.

Vow And Declare, winner of the 2019 Melbourne Cup, ridden by Damien Oliver prior to the Stella Artois Caulfield Cup at Caulfield Racecourse on October 17. Picture: Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images.

It is getting close to that time of the year when Australia’s most iconic horse race, the Melbourne Cup, will be contested at Flemington on Tuesday, November 3.

No less than twenty-eight race meetings are scheduled to take place across the country on Tuesday.

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But, as is the case with most things these days during a COVID constrained existence, the action off the track, or lack of it, is going to be very different to the upbeat fanfare and frivolity that has helped build the much loved tradition of the race as we know it.

Those twenty-eight meetings would normally be jam-packed with racegoers but, with different restrictions applying in different places, some venues will have racing enthusiasts in attendance while in other venues the grandstands will remain empty.

One of the racetracks where the public and owners will not be allowed is Flemington itself which will turn that race-day into something, as Trump would say, the likes of which has ever seen before.

While that is a most unfortunate situation, the reason is entirely understandable, given what Victoria has gone through over the last six months and the danger it still faces as a community.

Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Vow and Declare with Cetshwayo during trackwork at Flemington Racecourse on October 27, 2020 in Flemington, Australia. Picture: Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images.

But, in truth, there can be no cause for complaint.

Instead, the stark reality is that we really should all be accepting of the fact of just how lucky racing has been to be able to continue throughout the pandemic.

Also that we still have a situation where all of the best horses whose owners wanted to compete in the likes of the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup, all have had the chance to so, even for the international contenders from high profile overseas stables which seemed an unlikely chance halfway through the year.

When push comes to shove for Melbourne Cup glory, none of this will affect the action out on the track.

As always, it will be a tough stamina testing contest for the runners and a challenge of judgment for each individual jockey as to where to place their horse best in the running while still leaving enough in the tank to find race winning acceleration towards the end of the 3200m journey.

People in Queensland, by comparison to others, are fortunate enough to have a fair slice of freedom which means that the once a year gambler will be out trying to pick the winner of the race.

The spread of Melbourne Cup luncheons around town will be in full flow too and office sweeps will be the order of the day ahead of office standstills as workers pause to watch the race.

Different this year, to be sure, but the Melbourne Cup will still be a huge occasion.

I hope you enjoy it, from wherever you watch the race.

If you could find a winner that would only add to the enjoyment.

Graham Potter is the managing editor of horseracingonly.com.au

Originally published as