The 150th Cup



The 150th running of the Melbourne Cup. It promised so much. I cannot ever remember being so certain that a particular horse would win the race. And oh, I wanted him to so much.

Of course the horse I speak of was So You Think. The glamorous black stallion whose image is littered throughout this blog. He is of course trained by the master, Mr Bart Cummings. Mr Cummings has been unwell. It is scaring the wits out of me. I don't think I can cope with a racing industry that is minus Mr Cummings. It was bad enough when old Jack Denham died last December. Jack was perceived as a grouchy man, but I didn't see him that way. And having recorded his last 15 years through the lens, I was sad to see him die.

Mr Cummings was taken to hospital a few days before the Cup. I was told about it by a friend when I arrived in Melbourne on the Thursday. For several days no one was sure whether he would be well enough to attend the Cup. The 150th Cup without Bart? What if he won?????

After So You Think had demolished the MacKinnon field, he faced the starter as a pronounced favourite. The fickle spring weather didn't help his cause, and there was further cause for concern when he came out for the race dancing and spinning, and do 360s on the way out to the track. In the first time past us he reefed for his head, and made us feel even more nervous.

The black horse hit the front at the 200m mark, and I honestly thought he had it, until the race call called out Americain's name. When I looked for him, I knew in an instant that it was not to be the fairytale. The aristocratic looking horse swept past So You Think, and the images are actually very nice, but again, it wasn't the result I was hoping for.

I did have a bit of fun out the back though this year with the horses in the stalls, both before the Cup, and when the Cup international horses were boarding their floats home. It was also a little bit special because Sheikh Mohammed actually came and spoke to me during the Cup presentation. Alas, bugger it, I had my 'post-drowned rat' look on, with my hair scrapped back into it's usual pretty untidy pony tail, not my more lovely groomed look (yes, I can do that!!!) due to some heavy rain just before the Cup, and another couple of heavy showers that had caught me completely unprepared. And it was certainly one of those times when I resented having to wear the stupidly unattractive looking yellow photographer vest, and my large photographer jacket. Honestly! How's a girl supposed to look her best under these circumstances! A lovely Canadian photographer, Marc Villeneuve who was here for the Cup came and saw me afterwards, and told me he'd seen, and taken a few pictures. He emailed them to me the next day, which was v. nice of him.


Sheikh Mohammed Arrives in the Mounting Yard on Cup Day
Sheikh Mohammed during the presentation of the 150th Melbourne Cup

 


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