If you notice that ladies outnumber the men at tomorrow's Emirates Airlines Melbourne Cup at Australia's famed Flemington Racecourse, don't be surprised. The race was conceptualised to attract big crowds and historically ladies have been known to outnumber male racegoers on this mega sports day Down Under.
I wonder if this has anything to do with a gentleman called Robert Bagot, who was the first secretary of the Victorian Racing Club back in the mid-1880s. Bagot had this, perhaps then, revolutionary idea to issue every member with two free ladies tickets, with the belief that ‘where ladies went, men would follow.' A bit like our modern ‘Ladies Night' in the club.
Biggest turnout
Apparently the ploy worked and a large crowd of 4,000 women and men attended the race, which was the biggest turnout that the race had seen. Fortunately for the present secretary of the VRC he won't be needing to hand out those free tickets for tomorrow's race, the women are all set to turn up in the thousands anyway and are still giving their male counterparts a run for the money in the fashion stakes, which get higher by the year while the hemlines get lower. Or so we think.
Tomorrow's race is not just about numbers in the grandstand and viewing galleries, it's also about a record international entry chasing Melbourne's richest racing purse. A record nine overseas runners have travelled halfway around the world to take on the mighty home contingent in a race that has the makings of an absolute thriller. Mick Kinane, the great Irish jockey who is an ambassador for the Melbourne Cup recently told me that the total profile of the 3,200 metre contest has undergone a transformation.
Once considered a race fit only for brave stayers it is now being contested by the more speedy types. Horses with an ability to make the running and have the rest chase him to the line. Brave horses can win the race using tactics that are employed in middle distance races where a turn of foot is considered a quintissential requisite.
While Australian superstar So You Think, who is in superb form with five wins from as many starts this season, is the horse to beat the nine international raiders will not want to be swayed by such an awesome record.
Godolphin, who have three times in the past finished runner-up in the Melbourne Cup are doubly represented with Campanologist and Holberg, two horses with vastly different form and character.
Established globetrotter
The former is an established globetrotter who has strong German form over 2,400 metres while the latter will hope to cash in on his weight advantage, he carries just 53.5kg. Godolphin's number one jockey Frankie Dettori had to diet hard to make the weight for Holberg, while crack Australian rider Kerrin McEvoy, formerly Dettori's deputy, would like to win this for his ex-boss Saeed Bin Surour.
Irish trainer Dermot Weld is bidding for a third Melbourne Cup victory with Profound Beauty while reigning champion Shocking has been long prepared for this race and has done nothing wrong all summer.
