"In the beginning"

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The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

2007 Melbourne Cup.


The running of the 147th Melbourne Cup saw a spectacular finish to what
has been a troubled year for the Australian racing industry, there has
been an outbreak of Equine Influenza that seemed likely to cause the
running of this years cup to be postponed or canceled.
While this resulted in horses from NSW and QLD. being banned from
entering, the race still attracted a very good field.

1st Efficient, a Victorian trained 4 YO
2nd Purple Moon, an English thoughbred.
3rd Mahler an Irish 3 YO

These three horses all led the field at some stage of the race with
Efficient choosing the to take the lead in only the final few strides,
perhaps the story of the race belongs to Mahler the Irish horse that led
for much of the way only to tire over the last 100 metres (of a 3,200
metre, 2 mile, journey) this as a 3YO having his 7th start was impressive.
he is trained bythe Irish master trainer Aiden O'Brien, who many class
as the worlds # 1 trainer.


Efficient the 4 YO grey winning the 2007 Emirates
Melbourne Cup
from the fancied Purple Moon.


Efficient became the first horse since the champion Pharlap in the 1930s to win
the Melbourne Cup and the VRC Derby


The great Pharlap in action.


The Victorian Spring Racing Carnival encompasses the Caufield Cup as well as
the Melbourne Cup and culminates with Oakes Day, fashions of the field is an
important part of this carnival with the ladies fashions hotly competitive.

There is a carnival atmosphere amongst the 120,000 people who attend
the cup, with marquees for the distinguished guests and champagne
lunches a specialty in the carpark and lawned areas of the course.

In 1965 British model Jean Shrimpton, who had been invited to attend by the
VRC shocked Melbourne society by wearing the then new style Mini skirt to
the cup, by the look of this photo it was a shocking 3 or 4 inches above the
knee, I don't know how we survived that scandal.

6 comments:

Suzz said...

Since I know nothing about horse racing, I have no idea what you said, but it sounds authoritative so I’m very impressed.

Anonymous said...

I remember the 'Shrimp' kerfuffle, although I was very young at the time. But I do remember that there were as many people pissed off at her for not wearing a hat as there were for her wearing the mini skirt.

Jamie Dawn said...

NOooo, not a MINI skirt!!!

We have horse racing here in our town every year from January - April. In the off season, there's simulcast racing and other gambling activities at the race track.

I can relate to Mahler. One moment you're on top of the world, and the next moment you've run out of steam.

Purple Moon wins the Jamie Dawn Prize for best name.

Walker said...

To bad it wasn't the super mini.

Most races are won in the last 100 meters in almost all the races.
It comes down to heart and who has the most of it to offer that day

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ Good post about the Cup.
A lot of people had the Monday off this year to make a 4 day weekend.
Thanks for your comment about John and his face. It was a mess and who knows what lurks beneath that beard?
Had any more girls trying to pick you up? Never a dull moment. Take care, Cheers, Merle.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Shocking, to show that much leg. (I figure in about 30 years nudity will be common, and people with clothes on will be ridiculed. Unless we're all dead from global warming, which would be better.)