Melbourne Cup

About this event

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous horse race, a Group 1 handicap run over 3,200 metres at Flemington Racecourse and first contested in 1861. It is held on the first Tuesday of November and is a public holiday across metropolitan Melbourne — the origin of its description as the race that stops a nation, since much of the country pauses at post time whether or not it follows racing. As a handicap, the weights are assigned to level the field, which is why the race has produced long-priced winners and why victory under a heavy weight is treated as exceptional. Phar Lap's 1930 win remains the best known in Australian sporting memory, and Makybe Diva's three consecutive victories from 2003 to 2005 stand alone in the race's history. The wider Melbourne Cup Carnival surrounds it with several days of racing and a strongly observed dress code in the enclosures. The 2026 running is scheduled for 3 November.