Melbourne Cup

It was Melbourne Cup today and the annual hat competition attracted some interesting entries as always.  It was a great race this year, probably the closest finish in the history of the cup.  If it were not for cameras and photo-finishes, no-one would have been able to determine the winner.

Julie, our wonderful principal, was the belle of the ball in her own very colourful creation...

And here we have the winners...  

Phi looking fascinating in his fascinator...

Matt and Matt respectively

Jo in a pretty number

Students in their hats

Fellow teachers at the pub, namely Rachel, Sam, Melissa, Kim, Phi and Steve...

Fascinating facts about the Melbourne Cup

This is part of a piece I wrote for my students about The Melbourne Cup to get them in the mood for the race.  We stopped our lesson early and all went to the local pub to watch the race together.  Of course, needless to say, we all had a bit of a punt (I organised the class "sweepstakes") but my horse came second last.  Oh well, gambling and fishing just don't seem to be my thing...

• The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous horse race. The race always happens on the first Tuesday of November and it starts at 3 p.m. This is the 150th year that the Melbourne Cup will be run. So, you are here in Australia at a historic moment!

• The Melbourne Cup takes place in (yes, you guessed it!) Melbourne at the Flemington Racecourse. Horses have to be three years or older to take part.

• The Melbourne Cup is known as "The race that stops a nation." That's because just about every person in Australia stops doing whatever they are doing to drink beer or champagne and listen to or watch the race.

• A recent survey calculated that the Melbourne Cup costs the Australian economy over $ 1 billion in lost work. That's because no-one does much work on the afternoon of the race (not even English students) and it’s a public holiday in Victoria. But who cares! It's lots of fun and an excuse for Australians everywhere to have a party.

• Australians love to gamble on any day and especially on the day of the Melbourne Cup. The "sweep" (sweepstakes) is particularly popular where each person puts in some money and they are given a randomly chosen horse. The person with the winning horse wins all the money. Then they get to buy everyone drinks!

• The Melbourne Cup is not really about horse racing at all! It's about having fun and drinking champagne and eating canapés and looking beautiful in the latest fashions. It's one big fashion parade and it's all about being noticed. And often the most popular way to do that is to wear a huge, exotic looking hat.

• Sometimes the fashions at the Melbourne Cup influence what people wear all over Australia and even in other parts of the world. In 1965, everyone remembers when Jean Shrimpton, a model from England, wore a miniskirt. The skirt went just above her knees (shocking in those days!) and caused a worldwide sensation. Soon everyone was wearing them.

• The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861 and was won by a horse called "Archer." Archer lived in Nowra in New South Wales so he had to walk 800 km's just to get to the start of the race! Seventeen horses took part and the prize was a gold watch and £170 ($ 300).

• In today's race, 24 horses will take part and the prize money is $ 7.7 million and $ 4.5 million of that goes to the winning horse. Even if you come 10th, you get $ 160,000. Over 100,000 people will attend the race.

• The Melbourne Cup is one of the most difficult and challenging races in the world. The race is run over 3,200 metres and it is a handicapped race. This means that the better the horse is, the more weight it has to carry in the race. In the 1890's there was a particularly strong horse called Carbine who won many races. He had to carry a weight of over 66 kg in the Melbourne Cup (that doesn't even include the jockey) and yet he still won the race!

• Only four horses have won the Melbourne Cup twice and only one horse (Makybe Diva in 2003) has won it three times. The distance and the handicap make it very difficult to predict who will win the Melbourne Cup. Any horse can win. Who knows, maybe it will be your horse than wins the race today. Good luck! And if you win, remember to buy your teacher a beer.
  
  

Jean Shrimpton in her “shocking” miniskirt that caused a worldwide sensation.  Get a life, people!

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The belle of the ball

Kerry at a work function for the Melbourne Cup. Check out the fascinator in her hair. And notice how she stands out in red! Well done Kerry...
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The Race that stops a Nation

Today was Melbourne Cup and as usual, Australia came to a grinding halt. It amazes me how horse racing mad the Aussies are when it comes to this annual event. Not that everyone watches the race - its more an excuse get out of work, dress up and get totally pissed. Not to mention a bit of gambling too. Our bosses were in Melbourne, watching the race first hand. The rest of us went for a slap up buffet lunch on the harbour. Here I am with Kate Best and Kate Bofman.

And here's Mark who is leaving us in a couple of weeks. Very sad.
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Some facts about the Melbourne Cups

• Started in 1861 (Melbourne was only discovered in 1833)
• The cup is always held on the first Tuesday in November
• The race is 3200 meters long
• Since 1877, the day of the Melbourne Cup has been declared a public holiday in Victoria. Its a virtual holiday everywhere else in the country too.
• In 1930, the famous Phar Lap (some would say the best racing horse to ever live) won the Cup as the shortest priced favourite in the history of the race at 11/8.
• The Melbourne Cup trophy is a stunning 18 carat gold trophy valued at $80,000.
• The fastest time for the race is 3 minutes, 16.3 seconds. That's an average speed of 59 km per hour!