Media Release 11 October 2006 2 pages

Melbourne Cup arrives in Christchurch tomorrow morning (Thursday)

Christchurch will welcome Australia’s most famous trophy, the Melbourne Cup, when the Emirates Melbourne Cup trophy tour arrives tomorrow Thursday, 12 October.

Celebrating the theme, “The Emirates Melbourne Cup: a national icon. Why it stops a nation”, it will visit some of Australia and New Zealand’s most famous people and places along its journey around the world.

The tour, supported by racing groups, community organisations and the Riccarton/Wigram Community Board for the Christchurch leg, will be hosted at several receptions during the day, including a morning reception at the Riccarton Racecourse, and public viewings of the Melbourne Cup at Cathedral Square and Riccarton Mall. It will also attend a private function at the Christchurch Casino.

In anticipation of the 2006 Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour arriving in Christchurch, Mayor Garry Moore said that there have ties between Christchurch and the Melbourne Cup that stretch back to the 1800s.

"Riccarton's Dan O'Brien trained the magnificent Carbine from his hotel stable at Riccarton. The stallion won the Cup in 1890 and he's still regarded by many as the greatest horse to have raced in Australia. Riccarton-trained mare Lurline was the first New Zealand horse to win the Cup, in 1874. In all there have been five Cup winners from Riccarton,” he said.

"Christchurch’s links with the Emirates Melbourne Cup were further strengthened a few years ago when Christchurch changed its dates to make sure there were no longer any clashes between our New Zealand Cup and Show Week and the Melbourne event. It's meant more local people and visitors are able to enjoy both events, to the benefit of both cities."

The 2006 Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour arrived in New Zealand following international visits to London, Manchester, Baden Baden, Singapore, Boston, New York and Dublin.

It has also visited Auckland and Cambridge and will move on to Dunedin after Christchurch farewells the tour.

The tour concludes on the first Tuesday in November – Emirates Melbourne Cup Day – when the trophy will make its way up the straight at Flemington Racecourse in time for “the race that stops a nation”.

ENDS

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