It’s here again, not just Australia’s greatest race but our greatest and most enduring cultural institution — the Melbourne Cup!

As always, at 3.00pm on the first Tuesday of November the nation will stop to watch the huge field contest the 3200m (or two miles in the old) staying test, which has not only grown in its international era into the world’s best handicap, but one of the major races on the planet.

The story of the Cup is well known - first run in 1861 when won by the mighty Archer, and a grand stage for some of all-time greats such as Phar Lap (1930), Carbine (1890), Rising Fast (1954) and Makybe Diva, the only horse to win three, from 2003-05.

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