The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s most famous annual Thoroughbred horse race. The race is a quality handicap for horses three years old and over, run over a distance of 3200 metres, on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse. Around 300 to 400 horses are nominated each year, but the final field is limited to 24 starters.
About Melbourne Cup in brief
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s most famous annual Thoroughbred horse race. The race is a quality handicap for horses three years old and over, run over a distance of 3200 metres, on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse. Around 300 to 400 horses are nominated each year, but the final field is limited to 24 starters. Entries for the Melbourne Cup usually close during the first week of August. The initial entry fee is USD 600 per horse. The prize money for the 2019 race is valued at USD 250,000,000. The first 12 past the post receive USD 4 million, with the winner being paid USD 1 million. The 1985 Melbourne Cup won by Nuisance was the first race in Australia with a prize money of USD 500,000 to the trainer and 5 percent to the jockey. The current record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3: 16. 3. The maximum handicap weight is 50 kg, but there is no maximum weight. The weight allocated to each horse is declared by the VRC Handicapper in early September. The limitation of 24 starters is stated explicitly to be for safety reasons. International horses entering Australia must undergo quarantine in an approved premises in their own country for a minimum period of 14 days before travelling to Australia. As at 3 November 2020, international people must undergoarantine in anapproved premises at their port of entry for a Minimum 14-day period. The Werribee International Horse Centre is the Victorian quarantine station for international horses competing in the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.
The facility has stabling for up to 24 horses in five stable complexes and 32 km from the Melbourne CBD. The total prize money is $1.8 million, plus trophies valued at $250,000 at the post. The winner of the race is paid $4 million, second $1 million, third $500,000 and fourth $350,000 in prize money, with sixth through twelfth place earning USD 160,000 in the ratio of the connections of each horse in the race to the owner. The final acceptance fee on the Saturday prior to the race, is USD 45,375. Should a horse be balloted out of the final fields, the final declaration fee is refunded. The race directors may exclude any horse from the race or exempt any horse from the ballot on the race,. but in order to reduce the field to the safety limit of 24, horses are balloting out based on a number of factors which include prize money earned in the previous two years, wins or placings in certain lead-up races and allocated handicap weights. In recent years the rules were adjusted to a ‘quality handicap’ formula where superior horses are given less severe weight penalties than under pure handicap rules. Older horses carry more weight than younger ones and weights are adjusted further according to the horse’s previous results. In the past far larger numbers were allowed – the largest field ever raced was 39 runners in 1890.
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This page is based on the article Melbourne Cup published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
