Our Guide to the Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is one of the most celebrated events in Australia. It’s the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival, Melbourne’s 64-day celebration of horse racing, fashion, and fun. Whether you’re a first-timer to the Melbourne Cup or you’ve already got your outfit picked out for the carnival’s fashion-forward events, here’s our guide to the ‘race that stops the nation’:

When is the 2016 Melbourne Cup?

The Melbourne Cup is always held at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November, on the Flemington Racecourse.
The 2016 Melbourne Cup is scheduled for Tuesday, November 1 – mark your calendars!

A brief history

The first Melbourne Cup race was held in 1861 – that’s more than a century and a half ago! The first race was just over 3km, but today’s race is a short 3,200 metres. The winner of the Melbourne Cup receives a trophy and prize money (as well as fame and bragging rights).

How big is the Melbourne Cup?

Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday for workers within metropolitan Melbourne, and it’s one of the most popular spectator events in all of Australia. The event brings crowds of over 100,000, with millions of viewers around the world (over 700 million in 2013).

How long does the race take?

A fast race is a good race: the present record holder for fastest race winner is the 1990 race-winner, Kingston Rule, who completed the circuit in 3 minutes and 17 seconds. Fun fact: the 2015 winner, Prince of Penzance (horse) and Michelle Payne (jockey) was the first female jockey to take home the cup.

What should I wear to the Melbourne Cup?

It’s all about the hats. The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s biggest outdoor fashion event. Think colorful headwear, elegant frocks, and inventive attire. Men are required to wear a suit and tie with dress shoes.

What is a Cup Sweep?

A ‘sweep’ is any chance-based competition to guess the winner of popular sporting events. Traditionally, this is done by printing out a cup sweep ticket template, cutting out the tickets, and collecting money from each entrant for tickets… but we think this system is outdated, which is why we’ve created CupSweep.com.au for online Cup Sweeps.