Tens of thousands have already arrived at Flemington Racecourse to celebrate the final day of the Victoria Racing Club’s (VRC) 2013 Melbourne Cup Carnival on Emirates Stakes Day.
Racegoers at Flemington have witnessed Vlad Duric ride Boomwaa to win The Hong Kong Jockey Club Maribyrnong Plate and Patrick Moloney take home the SecondBite Plate on Post D’france.
The ‘family day’ of the Carnival will see the weight-for-age VRC Sprint Classic at 3:00pm, won twice by champion mare Black Caviar, and Victoria’s leading 1,600m event, the $1 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes at 3:45pm.
All eyes are on champion Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine to win the VRC Sprint Classic. Connections would receive an additional VRC bonus of $600,000 after already claiming an overseas leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, the G1 International Sprint in Singapore.
Local and international celebrities have arrived at the exclusive Birdcage marquees, including Chanel Iman, Sophie Van Den Akker and Travis Cloke at Emirates, Danny Clayton at Lavazza and Rhys Uhlich at Myer.
Fashionable youngsters aged six to 17 years have taken to the catwalk in their finest racing attire for the Emirates Stakes Day Fashions on the Field, hosted by Shura Taft and Jacqui Felgate.
The Worrell family from McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula took out the popular Family category against more than 40 family entrants, sporting a matching navy and grey colour combination mixed with blue prints.
The winners will take a home a host of great prizes, including overseas flights courtesy of Emirates, TCL TVs and accommodation vouchers.
Australian boy band The Collective will perform in the mounting yard before the feature Emirates Stakes, while US DJ Connor Cruise, son of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, will be mixing tracks in the Hill Square from 4.35pm.
At The Zone, children of all ages have been enjoying a variety of activities on offer, including art and craft, face painting, an animal farm and a performance from Dora the Explorer’s Dora’s Dance Party Live Stage Show.
The 2013 Pin & Win competition prize winners will be announced at 4:50pm with one lucky racegoer driving home in a brand new Lexus GS 250 F Sport Sedan valued at up to $96,371 out of a total prize pool of more than $158,000 including $1 million Emirates Skywards miles and TCL entertainment packages.
Pin & Win is the major annual fundraising activity conducted by the VRC as part of the Melbourne Cup Community Program with all proceeds in 2013 going to food rescue charity SecondBite.
Limited tickets to Emirates Stakes Day are still available and must be pre-purchased from Ticketek outlets or website, Federation Square or Flinders Street, Southern Cross or North Melbourne train stations.
