Society & Culture The Mel-Bun Cup

[William Wonka]

Racing is a passtime enjoyed by elderly men and people who enjoy looking at horses dicks.

 

[Lethality]

So it IS the once a year, racing sucks thread!

Racing sucks year round. A horse dies on the track every three days for our entertainment.

 

[Craven Morehead]

Racing is a passtime enjoyed by elderly men and people who enjoy looking at horses dicks.

Yes, all those thousands of people turning up to look at Winx's di.....

oh wait.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

All being legalised in the States as well.

If you genuinely think all sport isn’t simply following racing to become a vehicle for wagering, you’re kidding yourself.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Is the Melbourne Cup so bad that even Australians can't handle it anymore? Even Taylor Swift cancelled! | First Dog on the Moon

Everyone currently in the racing industry should be kicked out of the racing industry

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Hunter S Thompsons description of how to tell the Colonels at the Kentucky Derby they had vomit on their shoes

"Steadman wanted to see some Kentucky Colonels, but he wasn’t sure what they looked like.
I told him to go back to the clubhouse men’s rooms and look for men in white linen suits vomiting in the urinals.
“They’ll usually have large brown whiskey stains on the fronts of their suits,” I said.
“But watch the shoes, that’s the tip-off.
Most of them manage to avoid vomiting on their own clothes, but they never miss their shoes.”

Director’s Cut: ‘The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,’ by Hunter S. Thompson

Revisiting one of the Good Doctor’s greatest hits.

grantland.com

Ive been to the Kentucky Derby and Irish Grand National and Melbourne Cup and a few other races a few times
Probably will never go again, but it was fun
Im putting my bets on Today to avoid the crowds at the TAB tomorrow morning....gives me a better chance to get my money back on a scratching ,I consider that a win

I just re-read that story from his omnibus 'The Great Shark Hunt'.

I think as I've gotten older and less of a boozer I've seen the Cup for what it is. The ultimate mutton dressed as lamb turn polishing you can get in sport. The only good thing about this day is the pics of drunk trash later on.

I had a mate who, pre-wife and kids, lived in the Flemington area and would always go down to the bars near the track post race to pick up someone drunk and vulnerable. A very good success rate.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

All being legalised in the States as well.

If you genuinely think all sport isn’t simply following racing to become a vehicle for wagering, you’re kidding yourself.

You still haven't responded to the obvious point of difference between racing and team sports which will always be there: that in other sports people support a team first and foremost and that barely anyone supports a specific horse, jockey, or trainer. That's why gambling will never be as synonomous with other sports as it is with horse racing.

 

[Procrastinator35]

All being legalised in the States as well.

If you genuinely think all sport isn’t simply following racing to become a vehicle for wagering, you’re kidding yourself.

Your apologetics for horse racing & betting, due to it becoming more prolific in other sports, is no rationale or defence at all.....You recognise this I hope.

What it does provide an explanation for is how usury & gambling are a poison that go hand in hand with rampant crony Capitalism.....And it's families & communities that pay for it, in more ways than one.....It also means that corruption & crime associated with sport, becomes that much more profitable for the big end of town.

Assuming that you're on 'the winning side' of the argument just because it's the trend, is the epitome of a soulless, herd mentality.

It's time we returned to what is right, good & proper.....Not what is profitable, as the driving force of what shapes our societies......Yet another example of $$$$ & profit at the expense of people & communities....Of the triumph of human vice over human virtue.

 

[Billy ray]

Has anyone from melbourne ever experienced cup day outside of melbourne? Thoughts?
I personally think that 80% of Victorias give a s**t about and 20% dont.
But outside of Victoria its the opposite

 

[William Wonka]

Yes, all those thousands of people turning up to look at Winx's di.....

oh wait.

I guess it also have a following among those who are fans of all animal genitalia.
You know- country folk.

 

[Hank Scorpion]

Has anyone from melbourne ever experienced cup day outside of melbourne? Thoughts?
I personally think that 80% of Victorias give a s**t about and 20% dont.
But outside of Victoria its the opposite

I'd say it's closer to 50-50 on both counts.

Seems to me there's a definite generational gap though. You'd struggle to find many under 30 who gave a toss

 

[Procrastinator35]

Has anyone from melbourne ever experienced cup day outside of melbourne? Thoughts?
I personally think that 80% of Victorias give a s**t about and 20% dont….But outside of Victoria its the opposite

It'd be nowhere near 80%.....Horse racing & betting are a cultural poison that have been traditionally associated with the pub scene & blokes who think they can make a quick & easy un-earnt buck....That's what the bookies & the usurers rely & depend upon....I had mates at school who were already addicted to the punt as 15 year olds, by merely following in the footsteps of their father.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Has anyone from melbourne ever experienced cup day outside of melbourne? Thoughts?
I personally think that 80% of Victorias give a s**t about and 20% dont.
But outside of Victoria its the opposite

I was in Brisbane for the weekend two years ago and it was like it didn't happen.

I suppose it depends on the definition of "give a s**t". If the standard is anything more than putting $5 in a sweep and I feel like 80% is high.

 

[Billy ray]

so maybe 50-50 in mel-born and 10-90 outside?

 

[Sonny Bonds]

Has anyone from melbourne ever experienced cup day outside of melbourne? Thoughts?
I personally think that 80% of Victorias give a s**t about and 20% dont.
But outside of Victoria its the opposite

Vicco's only give a s**t because it's a day off work.

Questions at work:
1. Are you going to the Melbourne cup?
2. Are you placing a bet on the Melbourne cup?
3. Would you like to go into my work sweepstake on the Melbourne cup?

And then on Wednesday:
1. Did you pick a winner from the Melbourne cup?
2. Can we start hanging x-mas decorations in the office, it's almost time?

* off!

 

[Sonny Bonds]

Look out.

Carrie has led the race in the style stake by wearing a RED dress.
How do you do it Carrie? Wearing a RED dress and hair clip? Hold all presses.




Can't wait for the Project crew to continually masturbate on her shocking glam gown. You rock the s**t Carrie. Out of this world!

 

[Sonny Bonds]

Hang on a sec.....

The one and only Rachel Finch has also rocked up in her "* you Carrie" red dress.



But she came (sic) in a ******* Uber chopper (is that a thing?)

Jesus Carrie, your red dress looks silly now doesn't it?

 

[Sonny Bonds]

But to Trump all Trumps.....


Little Miss Nadia rocked her own style in Canary Yellow.


She stated that "I don't know where my arse cheeks went and I look like a 7 year old girl, but I thought I'd rock WB's Tweety Bird in the 60's".

 

[Back One Out]

The Melbourne Cup thrived for 130 years as a cultural event and a handicapped horse race which levelled the playing field and gave owners, trainers and jockeys from all walks of the life the chance to dream big. Anyone could win it. It was a race which pitted battling underdogs against millionaires. More often than not, it was the battlers and their cheaply bred horses who won. That was the race's appeal. That was the romance of the Cup and why past winners such as Kiwi entered folklore.

Sadly this has been lost in the VRC's sickening clamour to kowtow to the English and Irish connections. The superior stayers from from Europe and Japan are pitched into the race with weights much lighter than they should be carrying.

The VRC committee c.ockheads from Toorak have ruined it. It's become a soulless excuse to have a day off work and a meaningless bet. People don't follow the progress of Cups entrants like they used to. Nobody cares about a $7 million dollar horse race won by Lloyd Williams or one of those global horse breeding conglomerates. People still get pissed and bet on the race. But 20 years from now, nobody will reminisce about the past Cups won by rich Arabs or Japanese CEOs.

The public interest in the Cup will slowly ebb away, if it hasn't already.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Put on $40 won $20................ its a win

 

[Procrastinator35]

Put on $40 won $20................ its a win

Put on Zero....Won a day off.....Didn't watch it.

Win/ Win.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

The public interest in the Cup will slowly ebb away, if it hasn't already.

Crowd attendances in recent years suggest people are losing interest. Today was the lowest Melbourne Cup attendance since 1993.

2010 = 110,223
2011 = 105,979
2012 = 106,162
2013 = 104,169
2014 = 100,794
2015 = 101,015
2016 = 97,479
2017 = 90,536
2018 = 83,571
2019 = 81,408

 

[Back One Out]

Crowd attendances in recent years suggest people are losing interest. Today was the lowest Melbourne Cup attendance since 1993.

2010 = 110,223
2011 = 105,979
2012 = 106,162
2013 = 104,169
2014 = 100,794
2015 = 101,015
2016 = 97,479
2017 = 90,536
2018 = 83,571
2019 = 81,408

The VRC targeted young men and women to get dressed up and come to their Spring Carnival pissup, but that bubble has burst. It was never going to last. People move on, just like they do with flavour of the month pubs and clubs.

Crowds have been dropping steadily for all the major race days in Spring. Not just the Cup.

The interest in horse racing has waned since new forms of gambling were opened up: pokies in Victoria, the Casino, fixed odds sports betting and online poker. The gambling industry is super competitive and horse-racing no longer has the monopoly.

But more than that... The Melbourne and Caulfield Cups used to hold enormous interest for punters and horse racing enthusiasts. For weeks on end, the form of every potential runner was dissected in all the lead-up races. It's just no longer the case. There is now more focus on the shorter WFA races. The Cups have become something of an afterthought - best left to the international raiders whom nobody has ever heard of. Most of the favoured runners from overseas spend weeks in quarantine training in secret. They race here once or twice and that's the last we ever hear of them.

I don't even know why the VRC bothers trying to make it an "international race". Nobody from overseas really cares about the Melbourne Cup. They send their b-grade stayers over here to win it. e.g. We've never seen an overseas Derby winner contest the race. Very few Group 1 winners have been sent out here. The top UK trainers have realised it's better to send over their lightly-raced, underrated, under-handicapped second stringers. They are laughing at us.

The VRC should stop worrying about the overseas contingent - stop giving them so many favours - and return the race to the people. It was a much better race when the unknown New Zealanders and $5000 geldings from Perth, Alice Springs, Darwin and Toowoomba were the exotic runners from far away. They can't even get into the race these days. Let alone win the thing.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

 

[FRUMPY]

Crowd attendances in recent years suggest people are losing interest. Today was the lowest Melbourne Cup attendance since 1993.

2010 = 110,223
2011 = 105,979
2012 = 106,162
2013 = 104,169
2014 = 100,794
2015 = 101,015
2016 = 97,479
2017 = 90,536
2018 = 83,571
2019 = 81,408

Melbourne cup is never the biggest attended race meet over the spring carnival so would be interesting to see how the other days compare - mostly derby day.

But there is no doubt it is less popular. About 20 years ago it wasn't massive either. Then for some reason it got really popular over about a 10-15 yr period. So popular that had to increase the size of flemington to fit more people in (or open up areas)

I don't think the drop has been as a result of 'cruelty to animals', I just think the fad has worn off a bit