The race that stops a nation (and the occasional mortgage payment)

By Maria Millers  

For horses whipped, with bursting hearts
This race that stops a nation,
Is just another race of pain
And heartless exploitation.
From The Melbourne Cup by Jenny Moxham

There is something wonderfully Australian about the first Tuesday in November. The fashions, the flutter of excitement, the hopeful punters and, above all, the magnificent horses gathering at Flemington.

The race that stops a nation has traditionally been celebrated across Australia from office sweeps and Cup parties to the downing of tools as the race is run. And is viewed by millions across the world.

However, a sporting tradition can become so familiar that uncomfortable questions are overlooked.

More and more questions are being raised about the use of animals for human entertainment, gambling and commercial profit.

The Caulfield Cup, the opening big event of the 2026 Spring Racing Carnival was the scene of a horrific pile up with one horse having to be euthanized, another having to be retired for the rest of the season and two jockeys taken to hospital for assessment.

And during tough economic times there is something unsettling in seeing the contrast between wealth on display and knowing of the financial pressures facing ordinary households. More so on the day the Reserve Bank announces the latest interest rate.

For centuries, horse racing, known as the Sport of Kings has been one of the most popular sports. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry.

The Melbourne Cup total prize pool is $10.2 million, including prize money and trophies

And according to the VRC it brings $5.5 billion in economic activity to the state each year and supports nearly 34,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

But while thousands dress up, drink champagne and celebrate extraordinary wealth and privilege in corporate marquees in the Birdcage, many ordinary Australians are worrying about mortgage repayments, rising living costs and household budgets. Of course those who love the atmosphere and spectacle are prepared to put such considerations aside for the day and hope their yearly flutter may bring some joy.

This hope of backing the winner is vividly described by Banjo Patterson in A Dream of the Melbourne Cup (1886) The poem opens with a wonderfully humorous description of how he intends to dream up the Cup winner by making sure he eats heartily to get a good sleep and be able to dream up the winner.

Bring me a quart of colonial beer
And some doughy damper to make good cheer,
I must make a heavy dinner;

Heavily dine and heavily sup,
Of indigestible things fill up,
Next month they run the Melbourne Cup,
And I have to dream the winner.

But we should not forget the horses whose welfare deserves our consideration.

The Melbourne Cup, Australia’s major annual thoroughbred horse race is for horses three years and over. It’s regarded as the most prestigious two mile handicap race in the world and the most challenging.

Horse racing was one of the first sporting activities organized in the fledgling NSW colony. Weekend meetings became known as Picnic Races and still remain popular in some towns. In October 1810, Governor Macquarie inaugurated the first official race meeting at the new Racecourse at Hyde Park in Sydney. Macquarie saw the racecourse as a perfect neutral meeting place for colonists of all classes: military, convict, emancipist and immigrant to meet.

On 7th November 1861, a crowd of 4000 gathered at Flemington for the first Melbourne Cup. The Victorian Turf Club announced that the Melbourne Cup was to be a fair contest in which the best horses would be handicapped.

The race track was seen as one of the few places where high society and the lower classes could rub shoulders. Regrettably the Melbourne Cup segregates the wealthy in marquees in the Birdcage while the general public is confined to lawns and stands and take-away food.

Over the years concerns about the welfare of the horses has been growing.

As reported by the ABC the annual DeathWatch report by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR), which tracks racing-related deaths nationally, has upped Victoria’s list of racing related deaths of horses in 2025 to 48.

Racing Victoria disputes the methodology saying that the Victorian figure was 22 racing fatalities.

That disagreement itself raises an important question about transparency and accountability for horse welfare.

As well, the group behind the Nup to the Cup anti-horse racing campaign has declared Victoria the deadliest state for horses during the last racing season.

Even that first Melbourne Cup had not been without its drama. A fall brought three horses down, killing two and injuring two jockeys. The race was not stopped and ended up as a contest between the local favourite Mormon and a NSW entrant Archer. Archer who won was to go on and win the Cup twice adding fuel to interstate rivalry and further excitement to the running of the Cup.

By the end of the 19th century the Melbourne Cup had become a national event. In 1877, the first Tuesday in November was officially declared a public holiday in Melbourne which ensured crowds flocking to the track.

Faced with waning crowd attendances in the 1960s, the VRC Committee held the first Fashions on the Field competition at Flemington in 1962, in an effort to woo female racegoers to back the races. Now a national competition, state finalists from heats staged around the country during the Spring Racing season are flown to Melbourne, where the Victorian finalist is selected during the Melbourne Cup Carnival. The National Final then takes place on Crown Oakes Day.

Some may remember the shock caused by UK model Jean Shrimpton at the 1966 Cup wearing a mini dress no hat, no stockings. The emphasis was once on elegance; today some outfits are jarring and almost verging on bad taste.

The champagne flows, the fashions shine,
The wealthy gather, dressed to dine.
The crowds applaud, the punters cheer,
While household budgets disappear.

The Birdcage itself has evolved from a practical horse-racing enclosure into a major corporate hospitality and entertainment precinct. Originally, it was the paddock where horses were prepared and saddled before racing. It was enclosed in 1887 to keep spectators at a safe distance. The exclusivity of the area soon made it a fashionable place to be seen.

Today, it serves three main purposes: corporate entertaining for invited guests, promotion of luxury brands .and social networking for business leaders, celebrities and clients.

This raises another question: Has the festivalization of the Melbourne Cup made it as much a business event as a sporting event?

There has been consternation about behaviour at the Cup, the mismatch between the TV images of Fashions on the Field and people gambling, consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and engaging in disorderly behaviour.

To continue thriving, horse racing will require a strong social licence to operate, strong enough to counteract the increasingly loud critical voices.

Certainly, there are, and will always be, those who continue to defend the practices and ethics surrounding horse racing. Indeed, the importance of the Cup in the national economy is well established, and virtually guarantees its survival, at least in the short to medium term.

Nonetheless, we cannot rule out the power of social media, and the possibility that in time, opposition to the race may gain enough momentum to threaten the long-term future of the industry.

There could also be a remote, yet possible scenario, where the entire horse racing industry is shut down by governments pulling out of financial agreements. This was the case of the greyhound industry in Australia, where legislation forced the sector to close in the Australian Capital Territory as incidents of animal abuse, illegal substance use, and gambling rorts began to dominate.

The horse that died in the 2026 Caulfield Cup was Ohope Wins who was euthanized on the field after suffering catastrophic injuries when brought down in a fall involving Half Yours. Half Yours fell first but survived and both jockeys were taken to hospital for assessment.

Race stewards could not attribute last Saturday’s incident to the careless actions of any one rider declaring the matter was closed with no cation to be further taken.

Another two Victorian racehorse deaths have been recorded since Ohope Wins was euthanized: a two-year-old filly collapsed and died on track at Ballarat, and a six-year-old gelding was euthanized after an injury in Alexandra.

And when the final cheers have died,
Who speaks for those who ran and died?

CPR general manager Helle Erhardson said: ‘This happens all the time, the only difference is it happened at such a high-profile race,’ Critics of these statistics claim that they include off track deaths from colic, road and paddock accidents and other causes This discrepancy only emphasises the need for more transparency.

The race is still about horses, jockeys, trainers and owners. But the Birdcage demonstrates that the commercial and social value of the event extends far beyond the race itself.

The Birdcage celebrates glamour and success. The physical labour, risk and vulnerability behind the spectacle are much less visible.

The Melbourne Cup is presented as a great Australian occasion, an event that unites us in a shared national celebration. Yet the Birdcage reminds us that even at the races, some Australians are considerably more equal than others.

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