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Stop! Emirates Melbourne Cup Ahead!

By: MK - Oct-24-2011

If you are a fan of Horseracing, then you should know that the time for the Emirates Melbourne Cup is almost near. For those interested or curious and who doesn't know; this is one of the major events of the year in the horse race schedules, and is called "The Race that Stops a Nation" for something.

The race is held each year on the first Tuesday of November, and that fated day, like if it were one of the matches of the soccer World Cup, this race has this peculiar effect that brings every person in Australia to take at least a small glimpse of attention even if you are not a fan, the necessity to know the race outcome will drag you in. Cars stop, by passers near electronics shops stops to watch the race on the TV's on sale at the windows, and people listening with careful attention to the radios.

This race is kind of tough, the distance is of 3200 meters, quite long in comparison with any other major events in the Spring Racing Carnival, so it's not an easy prepare for a challenge like the Melbourne race offers. The reasons behind the magnetic attraction could be the difficult distance the horses and jockeys had to endure and ride hard to keep ahead of the group to reach the final stretch.

With the race scheduled for November, there are still a number of horses (75 79 approximately) that are still testing the challenging two mile course. However, even if there are more nominations, the Melbourne Cup fields have been limited to 24 horses with no emergencies. The prize assigned for this year Melbourne Cup is of 6.2 millions; with such juicy sum of money, many are already training hard to get in the roost, so this race promises to be very competitive.

Horses that made it to the Melbourne Cup are chosen by different conditions, while lesser horses are measured by the prize money earned in the last two years, performance on specific races and weight. Winners of a few selected races can skip the balloted out; usually these races are overseas, so many of the fortunate competitors are magnificent foreign race horses.

Just to finish with a peculiar note that catches my attention; like the Kentucky Derby or the St. Leger, the Emirates Melbourne Cup has typical traditions and festivities that came with the race course. Traditions like the Melbourne Cup dressing rules for men and women alike and of course, the extravagant hats. Also we can't forget about the bets, like always the people usually pick up the favorites to the race, but the real challenge is to pick a random horse to be the winner of this challenging race.

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