Now I don't want my American
chums (of whom there appears to be very few left) to think I'm going to ramble on
about the elections which seem to be invariably held on the "First Tuesday
In November" for some reason. And if you want to know why follow the link
at the bottom of this rant.
There is something of far greater
moment that occurs here in Australia every year without fail on the "First
Tuesday In November" and has done so since 1875, the "Cup" for
all Australians and for non-Australians "The Melbourne Cup".
However , the first
"Cup" was run on the first
Thursday the 7th November 1861; at that
time our American cousins had something more important to worry about. In 1873
the Victorian Government Gazetted the "Melbourne Cup" as a public
holiday.
And so it has been ever since.
This is probably the only public holiday gazetted for the sole purpose of
attending a horse race in the world.
Somebody got their priorities
right!
The first time I went to a
"Cup" was in 1952 when Dalray won, the following year I was serving
Australia, after a fashion, I was doing my National Service Training in the Army
stationed at Puckapunyal (and how's that for a load of useless information -
one might even call it codswallop).
I went again in '54, '55 &
'56 was the last time I attended. I found a different interest in '56 which you
can read about in an earlier post if you're really that interested.
It was always great fun at Flemington
Race Course/Track on "Cup" day, back then the crowd went for one
thing and one thing only. To see the running of the Melbourne Cup!
Fast forward 30 -40 years and up
to the present the "Cup" is celebrated
throughout Australia and by Australians around the world trouble is it's no
longer about the race and the horses it's about women in their silly hats and
frocks, and the parade of the horses takes second place to the parade of said
women in what is famously called "Fashion's in the field" what an
exciting piece advertising jargon that is!
I wonder how long it took some
brilliant ad exec to come up with that load of twaddle.
Not to be out done the men
(excluding what are delightfully called the 'A lister's' of course) get done up
in the silliest, most outrageous get ups imaginable, get to the track as early as
possible, and then proceed to get sloshed before the race starts.
Not drinking in the bars, no; drinking from their Esky's /beer chillers stuck in the boot/trunk of their
cars/automobiles that are parked in the one of the many car parks. (Don't you just love the way I give you the
Australian & Americanisms?).
Where are the police when you need them.
Anyway to cut this rant short I
really don't take much interest in the "Cup" anymore, I can remember
the last time I selected and backed the winner. It was 1973 and I was living at
Shay Gap and a few of the men were going into Port Hedland for the day, that
was where the nearest TAB / betting shop
was located and I gave one of the blokes $10 to put straight out on Gala
Supreme and nobody was more surprised than me when the bloke came back and gave
me my winnings.
So yesterday being the
"First Tuesday in November" at
around 2 or 3.00pm I am reliably informed that a race was run and won in
Melbourne by some excited young lady wearing a funny hat and a short frock or
it may have been a long one I really don't know or care. For those who don't believe what I said about funny hats and things check out this link: http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/lifestyle/fashion/10-best-dressed-celebs-at-the-melbourne-cup-20131105-2wyh4.html
By the way there was another race
for horses. One of them won everybody
cheered and went home to get ready for next year!
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