Today, 7 November 2006, Tuesday is the day of the greatest racing event in Australia/New Zealand or even the Southern Hemisphere if you like. It's held every 1st Tuesday of November every year in Melbourne in a racecourse called Flemington. I can't believe the funfare and festivity that goes with it, for just a 10 minute or so race. Ladies dress up for it- complete with expensive designer clothes and headgears, the men too. The drinks are overflowing and so are the cocktail food. The money involved is around millions of aussie dollars - mostly in buying betting tickets and paying out the winners.
Since 1993 David and I always put in a bet and somehow, we choose at least one of the winners. The first 3 horses that go past the winning post wins a place, and if you bet on any one of them you also win. We don't bet much because we just do just for the fun of it. Today we picked the 2nd Placer- Pop Rock and 3rd Placer- Maybe Better so that was a pleasant surprise- and wished we bet more money(who wouldn't if they knew the winner, huh?)
Today though the winner is a big surprise- Delta Blue and it's a Japanese horse. For a race dominated by winners coming from Australia/New Zealand this is a SURPRISE! and i don't think that they were prepared for it. There was no official interpreter even... and the poor jockey, all he could do was cry and say that he is VERY HAPPY and this is a SUPERHORSE- On the otherhand, this is just what he needed to say anyway and he was THE CHAMPION...Go Japan...this had broken the ice in this prestigious Melbourne Cup Race. 
