Melbourne Cup Day.
Yes, it is the first Tuesday in November and the day of 'The race that stops a nation'....The Melbourne Cup.Last night Wendi came and Dulcie chose the horse she would back. She only ever bets on this race. They also cut out all the names of the horses in the running out of the paper, roll them up, put them in a colander and then throw them down the hallway and then place bets on the first three and the one that falls last."Are you going to bet, Nick?" asked Wendi."Are you Will?," I asked.Will wasn't going to....he doesn't like it and thinks it is cruel for the horses."But, I think you should bet in at least one race," he said.I studied all the horses and three of them were British and of the three 'Red Cadeaux' had been second twice, including last year so I felt that it deserved to win this year....I chose Red Cadeaux for my horse. Dulcie chose Precedence.I can't remember what the horses were that Wendi and Dulcie bet on because of the way they fell out of the colander.Today Wendi came back to watch the race and she brought a lunch of fresh prawns for us. The prawns were huge and delicious....we didn't eat them all so Dulcie and I will have the ones that are leftover for lunch tomorrow.We settled down to watch the race......I must be getting quite Australian because I was getting quite excited too. The build up is huge with interviews with all the jockeys and then the singing of the National Anthem and the parade of the horses.The race started at 2.00pm. It only lasts just over three minutes.A German horse called Protectionist won and deservedly so......as it came from the back of the pack through the middle and was way out in front at the end......the jockey was British.My horse, Red Cadeaux, came second again!......for the third time. According to Wendi I might have won $3Dulcie's horse, Precedence, came sixth.....but the jockey was fined after the race for excessive use of the whip.The favourite for the race Admire Rakti came last and sadly collapsed after the race and died.......You can see why Will doesn't like it.