While it is very much Australia’s race, trainers and jockeys from around the world have arrived in Melbourne trying to take our biggest prize. Irish trainer Willie Mullins returns for his eighth attempt at winning the Lexus Melbourne Cup with Vauban and Absurde, Japanese horseman Noboru Takagi sends out his first Cup runner Warp Speed while jockeys Joao Moreira (Brazil), Karis Teetan (Mauritius), Hollie Doyle (Great Britain), William Buick (Norway) and Akira Sugawara (Japan) have flown in from around the world to try and claim the famous trophy.
The traditional pre-Lexus Melbourne Cup proceedings and entertainment will captivate racegoers from 2:23pm with the Welcome to Country ceremony to be delivered by Uncle Colin Hunter Junior.
Leading into the arrival of the Lexus Melbourne Cup trophy, the crowd’s excitement will be amplified with a special performance by Irish superstar Ronan Keating. Ronan will take to the Mounting Yard to sing When You Say Nothing At All, before being joined by Australian pop sensation Ricki-Lee to perform his smash hit Lovin’ Each Day.
Clerks of the Course Peter and Shane Patterson will then make an emotional tribute to their father, the late John “Patto” Patterson OAM, bringing the Cup along the avenue named in his honour on horseback, before passing the iconic trophy to multiple Olympic gold medalist and Melbourne Cup Carnival Ambassador Ariarne Titmus OAM and dual Paralympic gold medallist Alexa Leary. Three-time Olympic medallist, equestrian Shane Rose, and Olympian Shenae Lowings, who represented Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games alongside Shane as part of the Australian equestrian team on retired racehorse Bold Venture, will then carry the $750,000 trophy to VRC Chairman Neil Wilson before the Australian National Anthem is sung by Greta Bradman, the eldest grandchild of another Australian sporting hero, Sir Donald Bradman.
It won’t just be the connections of Cup runners cheering the horses home. There will also be representatives from each of the 24 rural and regional Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour destinations trackside at Flemington to cheer on their Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour National Sweep allocated horse, with the town which has the Lexus Melbourne Cup-winning horse to be presented with $50,000 to put towards a charity supporting a local community initiative. See below for the final field.
As always the world-famous Birdcage Enclosure will play host to a who’s who of entertainment, sport, business and media including Victoria Racing Club (VRC) special guest Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian Hurley, Nicky Hilton Rothschild and Rebecca Vallance-Gasan will attend as guests of Lexus, AFL player Josh Daicos, model Annalise Dalins and influencers Mia Fevola and Sam Guggenheimer for Penfolds, ultra-marathon athlete Nedd Brockmann, AFL player Rory Lobb and partner Lexi Mary for G.H Mumm, Irish singer-songwriter Sir Bob Geldof and UFC featherweight Alex Volkanovski for Crown, and Today Show co-host Sarah Abo and Nine Entertainment’s presenter Richard Wilkins for Nine.
Melbourne Cup Carnival ambassador Michelle Payne OAM will also be celebrating the day on course, nine years after her historic win as the first female jockey to win Australia’s greatest race.