Millions of Australians will drop what they’re doing mid-afternoon for the country’s most famous race: The Melbourne Cup.
Tens of thousands have descended on the city’s Flemington Racecourse for a day of drinking, betting and over the top fashion.
Known as “the race that stops a nation,” Australia’s most prestigious thoroughbred horse racing event is especially international in feel this year.
Tuesday’s race sees 24 horses competing for a chance at the $6.2 million (US$4.4 million) in prize money with only one Australian-bred horse in the race, eight-year-old gelding Sertorius.
Japanese stayer Fame Game is the strong favorite to win with odds of 3-1.
If you’re still unsure of who to put your money down on, ABC’s Fact Check dug through the data since the Cup was first contested in 1861. For the first 140 years, Australian horses dominated the race. But in the 1980s, international horses began taking home the trophy.
For many amateur punters, it’s all about the color of the jockey’s silks.
Riders wearing blue have won the most Cups — around a quarter. And backing a male horse is also a good bet — only 16 Cups have been won by mares.
The horse named as the pre-race favorite has won the Melbourne Cup 34 times out of 154 races, a success rate of 22%.
The annual event is not without controversy — last year’s Cup saw two horses die — but the day is less for hardcore punters than people looking for a raucous, buzzy atmosphere.
The state of Victoria has the day off but the rest of the nation often joins in too — the number of workers who call in sick the next day jumps by 25%, according to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.