Go, you good son!
Yesterday was the day the Australian nation stops for a race – the famous Melbourne Cup Day held on the first Tuesday in November. It is the day everyone puts down whatever they’re doing to watch the race either at the racecourse or on telly. Since it was my first ever Melbourne Cup and the 150th race, I joined a few university friends to the Royal Randwick Racecourse on the eastern side of Sydney to watch the race. Although the race is actually held at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, the Randwick Racecourse was filled with race goers and Sydneysiders decked out in suit and tie and pretty frocks and not forgetting interesting hats.
Everyone was worried about the weather as it had been raining the last few days but that didn’t dampen the spirits at the Racecourse. There was a huge TV screen on the grounds so that we could all watch the races in Melbourne and there were also actual races at the Randwick course for the punters. The grounds were filled with people placing bets for the big race at 3pm. Everyone was discussing which horse would be a good bet: So You Think which was last year’s winner was a big favourite, Descarado was another favourite as was MaLuckyDay for its catchy name. Then at 3pm, the race started and the crowd was hushed at first staring at the big screens. As the horses got closer to the finish line, the crowd got loud and excited. People were waving their bets in the air yelling out the names of their horses. Here’s a video of the race:
The winner was Americain and it was a magnificent and exciting win as the winning horse pushed forward right before the finish line. What an excellent finish to a dreary day.
