HORSE RACING
By LIAM DURKIN
THE race that stops the nation stopped by the Latrobe Valley last week.
Local clubs had the honour of being in the presence of the Melbourne Cup, the very same cup that will be presented on the first Tuesday of November after the iconic race.
As part of the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour, the 18-carrot Melbourne Cup trophy was guest of honour in Traralgon and Moe.
Stopping by Traralgon on Tuesday, September 16, the cup visited Loy Yang power station, Traralgon Centre Plaza and Liddiard Road Primary School, before making its way to Latrobe Valley Racing Club.
Next stop was the Grand Junction Hotel, where members of the Gormandale Cricket Club were treated to an up close and personal look at the $850,000 trophy.
Moe Racing Club then got its hands on the trophy, with the cup on display last Wednesday (September 17).
The tour had an important charitable connection, with Traralgon Apex Club and Moe/Newborough Good Friday Appeal now in the running to win $50,000 should the horse drawn by that charity’s barrier win this year’s Melbourne Cup.
Renowned race caller, Greg Miles travelled with the cup to Traralgon and Moe, regaling attendees with stories from his career.
Miles called more than 30 Melbourne Cups, including Makybe Diva’s famed three peat (2003-05).
The champion mare, who Miles declared the greatest ever, had early success at Sale Turf Club.
Fittingly, Miles also pointed to legendary race caller and Moe’s own Bill Collins as one of his idols. Collins’ legacy has lived on at Moe Racing Club through the naming of the Bill Collins Bar in the main function room.
“I loved coming here,” Miles said of Moe where he called during his career.
“One of the big challenges at Moe is that setting sun when you get to the last race, but it’s great that you’ve got a mounting yard where you can see the horses, see the jockeys … good place to call.”
Further Melbourne Cup royalty came to Moe for the cup tour, with 2015 winner Prince of Penzance and 2020 winner Twilight Payment making an appearance.
Prince of Penzance rose to immortality after winning at 100-1 odds, with female jockey Michelle Payne also becoming the first woman to ride a Melbourne Cup winner.
In an incredible coincidence, Rosedale horse, Patrobas won the Melbourne Cup 100 years earlier, and was the first horse owned by a woman to do so, carrying the same saddle cloth.
Trainers, jockeys and owners are given prominence on the Melbourne Cup trophy, with the three handles representing each of these important roles.
The trophy contains a hidden microchip, meaning any efforts to steal the cup can be easily tracked by the Victorian Racing Club.
Shock-jock radio host Derryn Hinch did however manage to ‘steal’ the Melbourne Cup long before microchips were around, as a prank during a party with Lloyd Williams after the 1985 running.
Hinch spent time behind bars at the former Morwell River Prison Farm not long after this for a separate incident in 1987.
Moe and Latrobe Valley Racing Club received miniature Melbourne Cup trophies as a memento of the visit from the real deal.
Latrobe Valley Racing Club Chairman, Frank Bezzina also invited Miles to call a race at the club’s upcoming Derby Day or Traralgon Cup.
Getting the cup to the Latrobe Valley was mainly instigated by Gormandale Cricket Club President, Nick Scammell, and Sue Bechaz, the driving force behind the annual Moe/Newborough Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron was on hand at Latrobe Valley Racing Club to see the cup up close.
“It’s probably the most sought-after cup in thoroughbred racing right around the world,” he said.
“To have it in the Latrobe Valley Racing Club, this joint’s run on volunteers, and it’s great to see so many people here.
“I know that Tim Bull (Member for Gippsland East) who is the Minister for Racing, and Minister Carbines (Racing Minister, Anthony Carbines) work really well hand-in-hand promoting the sport.
“Unfortunately these days inside Parliament we have elected MPs that are against thoroughbred racing and greyhound racing, so every opportunity that we get to be able to promote and talk about this wonderful sport … we talk about the horses and the trainers and the jockeys, but it is the village that lives around those particular individuals, we actually employ thousands and thousands of people around our thoroughbred racing industry.”
