Melbourne Cup 2021 LIVE updates Incentivise the favourite Future Score scratched
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Bye bye Birdcage. Once the staging ground for celebrity and corporate VIP excess, Flemington’s famed Birdcage is no more for a second year running.
In times past the invite only hospitality zone saw former sponsor Emirates contact a vast Russian palace to celebrate its air route to St Petersburg, while champagne sponsor GH Mumm once accessorised its pavilion with a sleek Maritimo S59 motor yacht.
The Birdcage was dominated by model Jennifer Hawkins for years, was where Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart once took a tumble, where Nicole Kidman paid tribute to Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, where Qantas executive Olivia Wirth revealed she was dating union official Paul Howes, showing how love can cross sociopolitical and corporate lines.
Pink zone at the Flemington racecourse. Credit:The Age
But that was then.
This year, welcome to the baby bird cage.
The traditional Birdcage has been transformed into the Pink Zone, the giant corporate pavilions have vanished. COVID uncertainty, you see.
Instead, Victorian Racing Club members and some general public punters lucky enough to get a ticket will be able to enjoy cocktails at the Botanical Bar, before entering the nature-inspired Wildflower precinct. And as of Friday’s relaxation, dancing is permitted. Happy days.
The traditional Heaven Sent roses lead on to an expanse of lawn and garden installations of Australian native wild flowers and grasses, and sections of exotic colour and form co-designed by leading Melbourne landscape architects Andrew Laidlaw and Phillip Withers.
A parade lawn outdoor pod with umbrella in front of the Botanical Bar will cost $30, while a seat at the fully catered Wildflower Luxe pod with champagne and a waiter on hand with cost $485 per person.
A circular Garden Stage will host cast members from Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Kate Ceberano and pop group Client Liaison.
Pink zone at the Flemington racecourse. Credit:The Age
Broadcaster Ten will deploy its trio of Masterchef judges Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen, while Cup ambassadors include Premiership players Christian Petracca and Tom Hawkins, the latter’s wife Emma Hawkins, MasterChef winner Diana Chan and Crystal Kimber, a Fashions on the Field winner.
“Melbourne Cup is almost a line in the sand for the events industry,†says caterer Bruce Keebaugh of the Big Group, which is supplying lunch.
It will be a test case and success will flow on to fashion week, the Australian Open and the Grand Prix.
But Keebaugh’s St Kilda Road venue The Commons is hosting a satellite event for all those who couldn’t make it to the Cup. Sponsor GH Mumm is hosting influencers about town including Elliot Garnaut and Rozalia and Nick Russian.
Keebaugh sees this hybrid model going into the future.
“The brands are activating on course and off course and I think that maybe is how it may happen in the future,†Mr Keebaugh said.
“This is a national event and we will see great parties in Brisbane and Perth and Adelaide, that’s the exciting thing. But in the end there’s nothing like being on the track when horses come down on Melbourne Cup day.“
The most exclusive dining venues are the Private Dining Marquees set aside for valued VRC partners including Ten, Penfolds, Schweppes, GH Mumm, Lion, News Corp and TAB.
The food will embrace local providores, including Gippsland beef. They might be the most exclusive tables in town, but they are unlikely to be the most fun.
Racing Victoria has splashed hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, advertising how much safer this year’s Melbourne Cup is.
So what’s changed since European galloper Anthony Van Dyck died in last year’s race?
Well, following a thorough review into not only that horse’s death but a spate of fatalities in the race and at Victoria’s quarantine facility in Werribee, Racing Victoria endorsed 41 recommendations to make the race safer.
Seamie Heffernan riding Anthony Van Dyck to victory in the 2019 Derby Stakes in Epsom.Credit:Getty
The cornerstone of the recommendations is enhanced vetting for the internationals, not only here in Melbourne but even before they travel.
All international horses wishing to compete must undergo a scintigraphy scan - which has been described by some, such as trainers Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, as invasive - of their distal limbs to identify any injury risks.
All Melbourne Cup runners, including the locals, must also get CT scanned in the lead-up to the race, and the horses must pass multiple veterinary inspections before Tuesday.
The new safety measures, along with COVID-19, have resulted in a sharp drop-off in the number of internationals who have come to Melbourne this year to try and win the Cup, while the scans have identified multiple at-risk horses who have this spring withdrawn from the running of the race.
No sign of the usual Melbourne Cup crowds gathering for a seat on the train to Flemington as yet, with those looking to get to the track early opting to take taxis and ride share.
While trains are running every 20 minutes to the cup from Southern Cross, platforms have remained relatively empty so far today.
Southern Cross Station on Melbourne Cup morning, 2021.Credit:The Age
Cross Counter was victorious in 2018, finally delivering the powerful Godolphin stable their breakthrough Melbourne Cup victory.
A text message from Ben Casanelia a few years earlier led to a bunch of friends â€" all but one from Geelong â€" sitting together in Flemington’s Hill Stand on New Year’s Day to cheer home their horse Tralee Rose in the Bagot Handicap.
Handler Ellen Oliver takes Tralee Rose for a dip.Credit:Nicole Cleary
And yell they did as the Symon Wilde-trained four-year-old mare bolted in the 2800-metre handicap by seven lengths, to notch her fourth win at just her ninth start.
As the group’s celebrations eased, words delivered from the firmament made them stop in their tracks.
“There is a race in November you might like to come back for,†the voice said.
Click here to read the full story.
Paris Hilton and Australian singer Rob Mills at the Melbourne Cup in 2003.Credit:Fiona Lee Quimby
The hotel heiress Paris Hilton arrived for the Melbourne Cup carnival in 2003 with her sister Nicky, but will forever be paired in popular culture with musical theatre star and reality TV survivor Rob Mills at the event.
Wearing a sheer, backless top and skirt that threatened to reveal the hard work of Hilton’s waxing specialist, Hilton turned Flemington into her personal nightclub.
No one remembers the outfit’s designer but they can recall Mills becoming her momentary romantic accessory, for a season.
This year’s Melbourne Cup, like last year, is heavily overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic. But unlike last year there will be crowds and BBQs and more of a sense of freedom.
Click here for our guide to this year’s event with the obvious caveat that things can change â€" sometimes at very short notice.
The running of the 2019 Melbourne Cup.Credit:Getty
In 1965, British supermodel Jean Shrimpton helped Melbourne catch up with international trends by turning up to Derby Day in a white shift dress by London designer Colin Rolfe that landed four inches above an exposed knee.
Jean Shrimpton and Terence Stamp (right) at Derby Day in 1965.Credit:The Age
The break with tradition sent commentators into overdrive but leading Australian designer of the time Norma Tullo put it all into perspective.
“People should dress as they feel. Miss Shrimpton, with her beautiful face and figure, looked lovely and young, and I loved her look.â€
For Cup Day, milliner Adele Chapeaux was tapped to provide Shrimpton with a more conventional look, paired with a two-piece suit but “The Shrimp’s†work was done.
The Age reported in 1966: “Last year’s controversial Miss Shrimpton would have passed unnoticed in the crowd this year. Anyone with hemlines below the knee looked very ‘old hat.’â€
Sitting outside the pop-up Botanical Bar in Flemington’s segregated hospitality “pink zone,†where once was The Birdcage, Victoria Racing Club’s Melbourne Cup carnival ambassador Christian Petracca admits he has come a long way.
The Demon midfielder’s first major exposure to the major event economy so vital to Melbourne’s pulse was as a teenage barista, aged 18, when he would froth up shots of caffeine at the MCG and racecourses for coffee cart provider Coffee Mob.
Melbourne Cup Carnival Ambassadors. From left: Tom Hawkins, Emma Hawkins, Diana Chan, Bruce Keebaugh, Christian Petracca, Crystal Kimber and Montana Cox.Credit:Joe Armao
After attending Flemington four years ago as an ambassador for former sponsors Lavazza, whose Birdcage marquee used to command attention, this year the Norm Smith medallist has upgraded to become an ambassador for the VRC itself and has enough self-possession to confess he has no great fascination with horses.
“I have always been more interested in the fashion than the racing,†the 25-year-old said. He will attend Cup Day with his girlfriend, lawyer Bella Beischer, and is anticipating a marathon.
“It’s good that this is the off-season as I will probably end up sore,†Petracca said, leaving us wondering if “sore†was Millennial-speak for excessive alcohol consumption.
Petracca issued a swift corrective: “No, I meant sore feet from standing for 10 hours. I am not much of a drinker.â€
The sun is shining, it’s a public holiday, coronavirus restrictions have eased and there’s a (small) crowd at Flemington.
We’d love to hear from readers about how you’re spending this Melbourne Cup Day and to see your pictures.
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