The runners in the 150th Melbourne Cup will not only be competing for a record $6 million in prizemoney, but also for a new-look trophy modelled on the 'Loving Cup' famously won by Phar Lap in 1930.
The 2010 Cup was launched at Flemington on Tuesday, with several legends of Australia's greatest race on hand to watch Mark De Mestre, grandson of the first Melbourne Cup-winning owner/trainer Etienne De Mestre, present the cup to VRC chairman Rod Fitzroy.
Among the special guests at the launch were 1993 Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Dermot Weld and jockey Mick Kinane, who famously became the first internationals to take the Cup when Vintage Crop prevailed, and Yasunari Iwata and Katsuhiko Sumii, the trainer and jockey of Delta Blues, who won the 2006 race for Japan.
A series of national events are planned in the lead-up to the race, with the heritage of the Melbourne Cup to be promoted across Australia.
They include the development of a Visitors' Information Centre, Heritage Trail and Walk of Fame at Flemington, and the launch of a significant cultural heritage program to include a series of gallery exhibitions, symposiums, and the development of a web-based national school education program.
"The 150th running of the Melbourne Cup is a chance to celebrate our great heroes and memorable stories," Fitzroy said.
"We want Australians to unite in the celebrations as we position the Melbourne Cup for the next 150 years, by ensuring it creates an enduring legacy in Australia."
The new-look Cup, with 18ct gold and weighing 4kg, has been crafted by Hardy Brothers Jewellers and valued at $150,000. It has returned to the 'three-handled loving cup' design first conceived in 1919 by master jeweller James Steeth.
The support of naming rights sponsor Emirates has enabled the VRC to raise the prizemoney for the race to $6 million from the $5 million offered in 2009.
The prizemoney for the 125th running of the great race in 1985 saw the first $1 million Melbourne Cup. That race was won by What a Nuisance, owned by Lloyd Williams, who also owned 1981 winner Just a Dash and 2007 winner Efficient. Williams, who rarely attends a race meeting, was on hand for the launch and will be eyeing a fourth Cup success on the first Tuesday in November.