Excitement is really building for the 2023 Melbourne Cup. Last year’s winner Gold Trip made a great return to form in last week’s Turnbull, while there’s good and bad news for British-based jockeys ahead of this year’s event.
What we won’t see is a parade. The famous Melbourne Cup parade has been cancelled for the first time in its 40-year history
Protests to Blame for Cancellation
The Melbourne Cup parade has been a long ongoing tradition. Jockeys and Melbourne Cup horses are usually shown on the city’s streets, but this time around the showcase has been canned after protests against the race increased.
The parade has been organised before the race every year since 1983. The only exception was during 2020/21. This time around, Victoria Racing Club have promised to hold a ‘feature event’ in its place.
Protesters determined to end the Melbourne Cup caused disruption at last year’s race. The threat of more disruption this time around has put paid to the parade, but not the race.
The Melbourne Cup has faced enough threats recently and is no longer the richest race in the country. That honour goes to the $20m Everest, won on Saturday by Think About It.
Contrasting Fortunes for British-Based Jockeys
Frankie Dettori’s last year of riding has been a mostly successful one. The British public are taking to social media to express how fed up they are about this roadshow. The famous Italian has now performed a fairly predictable U-turn by announcing he will now carry on beyond the close of the year.
His dream of winning the Melbourne Cup now hangs by a thread, however.
Dettori seemed set to ride Spanish Mission, third in the race in 2021. It seems Blake Shinn will now take that ride, leaving Dettori looking elsewhere for a mount.
Like the July Cup in England, the Melbourne Cup is missing from Dettori’s resume and he is desperate to win it. He hasn’t covered himself in glory as yet however, causing mayhem in 2016 aboard Max Mayhem.
Dettori set off a chain of events when aiming for a gap that caused horses to bump, his apparent dangerous riding earning him a one-month ban.
He was banned for nine meetings in 2019 too. More horses were hampered when he allowed Master Of Reality to wander late in the race.
Aus sie trainers seem sceptical about him since those events. Now, very few horses are left in the race on which Dettori could make the weight. His chances of a successful final Melbourne Cup now look slim.
Doyle Secures Ride
Hollie Doyle will indeed get a deserved first Melbourne Cup ride.
She is set to ride Future History, formerly trained in Europe. Doyle is looking to become the first female rider since Michelle Payne to win the race.
Doyle will become the first female jockey from outside of Australia or New Zealand to ride in the race. Her husband, Tom Marquand, has yet to secure a ride.
