Melbourne Cup

Why it is here

Half Yours won the 2025 Cup worth $10 million (Australian dollars) on 4 November, and Jamie Melham became the second female jockey to win it, after Michelle Payne (ABC News, 2025-11-04). The Guardian calls it 'Australia's most important horse race' (2025-10-28). Welfare context from the same report: seven horses died in the running of the Cup between 2013 and 2020, including five international entrants with fatal leg injuries, which led to veterinary safety protocols in 2021. All Cup runners now need a mandatory CT scan and two pre-race veterinary inspections, with PET scanning available from 2025. Racing Victoria says there has been no fatal injury at the Spring Racing Carnival since the protocols began. The same report covers a Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses count of at least 174 racing and training deaths in Australia over 12 months. It also covers an allegation, reported by the Herald Sun, by Dr Grace Forbes, who leads Racing Victoria's veterinary services, that she was told to be more 'flexible'; Racing Victoria called the allegations unsubstantiated. Score drivers: prestige 9.0 from its national standing; social 9.0 from the national-occasion status both titles describe; sporting level 7.8, because as a handicap it does not appear in the IFHA Top 100 Group 1 list. Exclusivity and experience are not scored.