Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup

Group 1 race
Melbourne Cup 2013
Location	Flemington Racecourse Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Inaugurated	1861; 163 years ago (1861) (List of Melbourne Cup winners)
Race type	Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Sponsor	Lexus (2022)
Website	Melbourne Cup
Race information
Distance	3,200 m (1 mi 1,740 yd)
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Three-year-olds and up
Weight	Handicap
Purse	A$8,410,000 (2023)

The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest two-mile handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".^[1]

The Melbourne Cup has cemented itself as a part of Melbourne and Australian culture, having being run every year since 1861 (except for an intermission during World War I and World War II). The day of the race has been a public holiday for much of Victoria since 1876.^[2] It was originally run over two mi (3.219 km) but was shortened to 3,200 m (1 mi 1,740 yd) in 1972 when Australia adopted the metric system. This reduced the distance by 18.688 m (61 ft 3+3⁄4 in), and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3:19.1 was accordingly adjusted to 3:17.9. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3:16.3.