A Nation Halts......

carolekelly
Oct 25, 2021
2 min read

On the first Tuesday in November, one out of every two Australians will stop what they are doing and for three minutes and twenty seconds, will watch twenty-four prime horses run the two mile Melbourne Cup. The nation stops. Time is suspended and breaths are held for what feels like an eternity: and then it's over.

In metropolitan Melbourne, the home of the race that stops the nation, a public holiday is granted and for those that must be on call for duty, the work place has TVs at the ready, special lunches prepared and decorations completed. For many who cannot personally attend, a BBQ is probably on the lunch agenda, but for those arriving in person for The Cup, it is the culmination of months of seeking out the best haute couture fashions in order to stand out among the one hundred thousand plus visitors to Flemington Racecourse. Both men and women are impeccably groomed and the excitement is palpable.

I have been privileged to work in the Members Pavilion for the past nineteen Melbourne Cup races. I am especially lucky as I work in a glass enclosed area, six floors above the track and level with the finish line. Patrons arrive from all over Australia and from overseas and while some are experienced punters, there are many for whom this is the only time that they place a bet.

While I love watching those twenty-four magnificently groomed horses parade in the mounting yard, it is the people who I love to interact with- the seasoned race goers, the first-timers, the jockeys, the owners and the trainers.. They all recount the highs and lows of the previous twelve months and of course, they all have a tip about which horse will win.

This isn't just another horse race. It is the most prestigious race in the country with over four million dollars in prize money awarded along with the Melbourne Cup itself, worth a quarter of a million dollars. Both the jockey and the trainer receive a replica of the cup, each worth ten thousand dollars. Then of course, there is the kudos.

Due to the Covid pandemic, this year, as with the last, I will be watching those twenty-four runners from the comfort of my lounge room, but I will still feel the magic and excitement as if I was there. I will miss contact with all of those beautiful smiling faces and I'll miss the ones the racing scene has lost in the past twelve months.

It serves as a reminder to me that life is definitely not a dress rehearsal, so to "make hay while the sun shines" and make every single experience count, for you never know what's just around the corner.

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