I don’t like horse racing and I don’t know if I really feel like pretending I like horse racing for a day, but today is Melbourne Cup day so I guess I don’t have a choice. What are your thoughts on horse racing and the Melbourne Cup? What are your thoughts on the hats?
I think there’s something a bit sinister about the whole thing. To begin with, horse racing is a pretty harsh and cruel sport for the horse itself. Then there’s the whole dreadful celebs in hats aspect of it. Then there’s the whole gambling thing, which is fine I guess, but yeah.
I suppose I’m a bit of a killjoy but I can’t help but feel like there is just an aura of forced fun surrounding the Melbourne Cup. Not really my thing at all.
What are your thoughts on the Melbourne Cup. And folks that have the day off — what are you all getting up to?
Comments
35 responses to “Off Topic: The Melbourne Cup”
I’m with you on this Mark.
I don’t give two shits about horse racing and if I had any shits left to give to the Melbourne Cup, I wouldn’t give them. I personally think it’s pretty stupid that a city gets a whole day public holiday for a 3 minute horse race, when ANZAC Day is officially only half a day (though most people take the whole day off anyway). Not to mention that it displays what a nation of compulsive gamblers we are.
And??
$50 says we aren’t.
I like the Melbourne cup.
It’s the only time I make a bet on something worth while.
I Don’t know why people get so cynical about the whole thing, I mean if people choose to take a day off for the race then Good for them, let them enjoy it. I’m sure if there was a specific day for some thing that interested you than you would probably do the same
In the end
It’s just a Horse Race. It’s entertainment.
enjoy what you make of it.
If my $5 bet wins me $100 that’s a plus if not that $5 less i’d spend on mc donalds
What I find distasteful about it is that Melbourne (and some other areas) get a whole day off for a 3 minute horse race, yet our ANZACs only officially get half a day dedicated to them. I think our priorities are out of whack.
Mate, humans priorities will always be out of whack (I feel the same in that sense to) in an ideal would Doctors, firemen and soldier’s etc would be treated as celeb’s and people would look up to them but no instead we would rather pay some guy hundreds/thousands of dollars because he can kick a ball really good or look pretty on tv…
Tbh though the day off thing is new to me I never knew the Melbourne cup was a public holiday in some parts of Australia.
What about the queens birthday?
during the those days off do you actually reflect on the reasoning behind them or are you happy that you have a day off.
To me I’m just happy to have a Day off and I don’t care really about the reasoning behind it just enjoy it for what it is.
I find that if ANZAC day was a public holiday you would find that people would ruin the image getting drunk and partying just because. I like it how it is, I volunteer for the dawn service (cook brekkie for rsl members) go to work, do my minute silence and reflect on the meaning whilst I have quiet times during work, I’d rather it be like that than forgetting what the day is about because I’m engrossed in Dota 2
Been in Melbourne for 2 years now, and today is the nicest day out in the city/inner suburbs because all the dickheads are in a paddock out west.
I lived in Melbourne for 3 years and I never went to a Cup day. I am not against it morally or anything (the race itself, the commercialisation or the pro-gambling take) but I just never made the effort.
Same goes for the AFL, never went to a game but that was more because I can’t take any game seriously that calls itself football yet is played with an egg shaped “ball” and they spend 90% of the game carrying the thing around rather than having the ball make contact with their feet, as the name of the sport would suggest.
My thoughts are: work is having a free lunch. Slack day!
The Melbourne cup is for rich people to go and play dress up. I don’t care much for it.
I’ll happily take the holiday, however.
I go into the office sweeps but that’s the extent of my involvement. Never even had any time off for work for it.
Bosses and office staff have half days with champagne and food but everyone else has to work.
Could not care less.
The last time the race stopped my nation I was 10 years old and won a can of coke at a school camp on it. I DON’T EVEN DRINK COKE!!
I agree.
Melbourne Cup doesn’t stop me for the 1 minute or whatever it goes for – but the Bathurst 1000 stops me for hours as the uni work I didn’t do that day can attest to! Should replace the horses with cars IMO!
But seriously, all the extra interest in this one race comes from the money that people think they can win – only the purists actually care about this event as a sport. People only seem to care about which horse won if they had a punt on it.
I’m not a big fan of horse racing. I don’t particularly like horses (in fact, I think they are horrible fucking animals), but I also don’t particularly like what racing and show jumping does to them either. I basically have the same moral objections to horse racing as I do to circus animals. Best case scenario the horse is successful and remains uninjured and is put to stud. More likely the horse is put down when one of its legs breaks.
This
Before you think that going out to stud is a good thing – have a look into it.
Yeah – its not a good thing either.
+1 for horses being horrible fucking animals. Go be glue already, horsies.
Where the fuck does all this horse hate spurn from??
(Emphasis mine) Wait, it’s all so clear now. The Melbourne Cup is actually Valve’s longest running ARG. You have hats, you have trifectas, with three horses. This is it, the missing link. HALF LIFE 3 people!
Seriously though, I think the whole thing is stupid, but I get a free* lunch so I can put up with it for a day. (*May not actually be free)
I don’t really care about the race, but it’s a bit of a social event and usually I’ll score an invite to some drinks or something from one of the firms my company has on their panel. I’ll put five or ten bucks on some horses, which I consider more an investment in participation more than I consider it a bet, since I never win. There’s always the chance I will win and it gives me something to talk about over a beer.
I think it’s incredible that Melbourne has a public holiday for it but it’s such an event now that I guess it was just time to admit that nothing gets done and formalise the situation. Now people take annual leave on the day before as well, so I’d say 50% of the city has a 4-day weekend.
Horse racing is even more boring than swimming as a racing event but it’s a day off so good on the Melbourne Cup.
I hate it partly because we’re not doing anything to celebrate it at my office (I miss the days of beers at 2pm), but mainly because we work above a night club. That’s usually fine because they tend to operate at, you know, night. But come Melbourne Cup and the Christmas party season? Rumbling floor and distracting music all day. Woo!
Ill buck the trend here (pun intended) and say that I quite enjoy the whole day.
Im not a big gambler but I do enjoy a punt on the cup but the biggest part I like is that it is a great leveler in terms of social stature.
Very rarely will you get a chance to meet and befriend people of all different walks of life and there is nothing better than seeing a rich CEO type hugging the bricky next to him because they both just picked the winner.
The Melbourne cup is more than just a race, imho it is the true Australia Day, free from political correctness, ethnicites vying for attention and has a clear cut theme that anyone can relate to if they want to.
For all the haters whilst I do understand that you may have no interest in horse racing etc, it probably wouldn’t hurt to maybe go out and experience what today actually delivers, and realize its not about gambling its about taking a break from life for a while.
And the girls of course….
You don’t need a whole day to “take a break from life”.This can be done anytime in your life. Considering only one city gets the public holiday, you can hardly say that it’s the true Australia day. There are plenty of things you can do to meet people from all walks of life, moreso than what you would at a fucking horse race.
Don’t even get me started on the way the horses are treated.
Why are you so upset lol?
We don’t get a public holiday here, but it’s nice to have something happening in the background that everyone can take part in, jesus some people need to chill.
Just strongly disagree with @riwered and his oppinion of it being the true Australia day.
I also am against cruelty to animals and I believe horse racing falls under that category. What do you mean it’s nice to have something happening in the background. There’s usually something going on in the background no matter where you are:p
^ This.
> People like to hate things just to be edgy
Yeah that’s me, hating the cruelty to those poor horses at the expense of some punters to be “edgy”
Why complain now?
I’ve been very vocal about my oppinions on the horse racing industry for a long time.
Being that this is a thread about the Melbourne Cup, I deemed it appropiate to complain.
In Melbourne, it’s mostly a day off for people (or two depending on where you work) so stop complaining.
My brother was a jockey. Seeing him race i can tell you it is one of the most dangerous and balliest job around. But yeah, doing that for the pleasure of pissed gamblers and douchebags with stupid hats and already too much money to get properly excited about winning more!?!…
*thinks Melbourne Cup is great as he transfers $360 in winnings into his bank account*
Don’t really care too much for the whole event, but I do enjoy putting a small amount of money down on a horse and hoping it gets in the top 3.
I live right near the track and whenever racing season rolls around everyone in the neighbourhood avoids Racecourse Road like the plague. Wasted bogan dickheads with too much money and a boon to glue factories is all it represents to me.
Could be worse, though. It could be the Grand Prix – otherwise known as one of the most spectacular wastes of money, time and resources in the developed world. The cars can be heard 60km away from the other side of the bay.
At least horses are quiet.
The fact that so many horses are shot after such a race and a HUGE percentage of them have bleeding lungs from exercise induced hemorrhaging all for the sake of money and rich people is disgusting. On top of that, it has become even more of a farce when young kids don a suit and dress and a fancy fucking hat simply to get shitfaced drunk and gamble.
Animal racing (not just horses) and bull fighting are two kinds of “sports” that I loathe and shouldn’t have a place in the world of today. We are so oblivious to just how bad these things are and only see it as harmless entertainment.