The stylish, sunburnt and sozzled punters of the Melbourne Cup
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The day twins Rachael and Claire Schmidt were born, Makybe Diva won the 2005 Melbourne Cup in record time.
“I wanted to name them Makybe and Diva, but my husband had other ideas,” their mum Miranda joked.
Given their special birthdate, it had long been planned that when the twins turned eighteen, the family of five would fly down for the Cup weekend from their home of Carnarvon in Western Australia.
The Schmidt family were among the 84,492 in attendance at Flemington Racecourse for the Cup on Tuesday, according to Channel 10, up 14.5 per cent on last year.
On the track lawn late Tuesday morning, they agreed the birthday celebrations had already been a huge success – even before the main race.
For Rachael, her highlight was beating her dad on the punt in the Victorian Derby on Saturday. She placed money on Riff Rocket, who pipped Apulia – her dad’s choice.
Jockey Mark Zahra returns to scale on Without A Fight in the midst of punters.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Like many at Cup Day, the drinks started early: “You don’t even drink, and you’re having a martini at 10am,” Rachael teased her mum.
The sport of drinking often took priority over horse racing for many. Empty bottles of G.H Mumm champagne were spotted by mid-morning, when snaking lines to the bars had formed. By 11am, people were waiting more than half an hour to reach the bar counter.
Henry and Amanda Manzelmann from Queensland.Credit: Carla Jaeger
Others were feeling the effects of the packed crowd. Jake Lincoln from Perth arrived with a group of 20 an hour before the gates opened, but still didn’t manage to nab a seat at the grandstand.
While many got a train or Uber to the Cup, Lincoln was among those who arrived by sea.
Henry and Amanda Manzelmann from Queensland also took the Melbourne Cup Cruise from Sydney, a six-day journey to Melbourne and back for the big day. Dressed in a matching rainbow suit and dress, the three-time attendees said it would be their hottest Cup Day yet.
Seats were all but abandoned by the time the big race arrived. The crowd in general admission flocked to the lawn and those in the grandstands were pressed up against the glass barrier. A giant whoop was unleashed by the thousands as the horses were released.
Those on the lawn stood on their tiptoes to get a view of the horses fly past – though not everyone quite understood what was going on.
“Let’s go the horses!” an enthused punter yelled. His friend, laughing at his vagueness, responded with the same vigour: “Racing!”
Punters enjoy the festivities at Melbourne Cup Day.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The crowd reacted with a mix of sighs and cheers when Without A Fight won the Cup, before quickly returning to their seats, the bar, or the toilets.
By 4pm, an hour after the big race, the track lawn was littered with thousands of empty cans. People were littered on the ground too, some sustaining heat stroke, others sporting bright red sunburns.
Punters welcomed a late cool change with enthusiasm, with a few hundred heading to the stage to see The Corrs belt out a rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Little Lies as light rain fell.
The seagulls begin to land at Flemington as Cup Day comes to an end.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Others, meanwhile, made their way down to the train station, one man gleefully and drunkenly rolling down the hill.
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