Tuesday is D (for decision) day
No not some namby-pamby election where no matter who wins, you still get a politician; this is the real life-or-death type decision making; who will win the Melbourne Cup???
For those who don't know, the Melbourne Cup is a 2 mile (3200 metre) handicap horse race. The first cup was run in 1861, and it is the most prestigious race in the country. Tomorrow is a public holiday in Melbourne, and the rest of the country just spends most of the day getting ready for it. I was reading yesterday that in 1880 when the population of Melbourne was only 270,000, there were 100,000 at the cup. Well, there will probably be about 120,000 at the races tomorrow, because that's about all it holds. But the whole country stops to watch. The total prize money is over $4 million, with $2.7M for the winner. "So what?" you ask. Well, my family have owned or leased horses for years. Some have been slow. Some have been VERY slow. A handful have been fast. At the moment, my parents have a few who look to be quite good, but a few years back, my mum, my brother Ian, Robert and I leased a race horse who was fairly good, Glen Barb. She had a bad leg, which limited her a lot, but she still won enough to pay her bills, and we had lots of fun. After she retired, she had several colts and one filly; they were all OK, but not great. But the filly has now had some foals, and one of them Don Raphael is in the cup. He had to win on Saturday in order to qualify for the cup, and when he did, there were tears all round; such excitement! Barbie's grandson has qualified for the cup! So at 3.10 pm tomorrow, the whole country will be watching, and by 3.15 we will know. There are only 24 horses able to get into the cup each year, and one of them is almost family.
And co-incidentally, THREE of my parents' horses will be running tomorrow as well. Two at Kembla grange south of Sydney, and one at Randwick in Sydney. Last year one of their hoses won on Cup Day, which was exciting, but this year, the three of them all have a good chance.
And once we have the most important things out of the way, we might turn our attention to the election in America. But it's not as exciting!
For those who don't know, the Melbourne Cup is a 2 mile (3200 metre) handicap horse race. The first cup was run in 1861, and it is the most prestigious race in the country. Tomorrow is a public holiday in Melbourne, and the rest of the country just spends most of the day getting ready for it. I was reading yesterday that in 1880 when the population of Melbourne was only 270,000, there were 100,000 at the cup. Well, there will probably be about 120,000 at the races tomorrow, because that's about all it holds. But the whole country stops to watch. The total prize money is over $4 million, with $2.7M for the winner. "So what?" you ask. Well, my family have owned or leased horses for years. Some have been slow. Some have been VERY slow. A handful have been fast. At the moment, my parents have a few who look to be quite good, but a few years back, my mum, my brother Ian, Robert and I leased a race horse who was fairly good, Glen Barb. She had a bad leg, which limited her a lot, but she still won enough to pay her bills, and we had lots of fun. After she retired, she had several colts and one filly; they were all OK, but not great. But the filly has now had some foals, and one of them Don Raphael is in the cup. He had to win on Saturday in order to qualify for the cup, and when he did, there were tears all round; such excitement! Barbie's grandson has qualified for the cup! So at 3.10 pm tomorrow, the whole country will be watching, and by 3.15 we will know. There are only 24 horses able to get into the cup each year, and one of them is almost family.
And co-incidentally, THREE of my parents' horses will be running tomorrow as well. Two at Kembla grange south of Sydney, and one at Randwick in Sydney. Last year one of their hoses won on Cup Day, which was exciting, but this year, the three of them all have a good chance.
And once we have the most important things out of the way, we might turn our attention to the election in America. But it's not as exciting!