The Melbourne Cup - Champagne, Hats, Booze, Birdcages and Bean Bags. We were there to try and pick a few winners.

Our own Melbourne Cup  is the feature event of the wonderful Spring Racing Carnival and with over 6 million $ in prizemoney and 100,000 people at the track ...is making big claims to be the world's biggest horse race.

What an event it is and our team was there this year to soak up the bubbly (plenty of it too), the carnival atmosphere, the sunshine and the chance to win a few bonus bucks at the track. So how did we do it? VIP style of course... backing up the Ambient Lounge Van with our outdoor bean bags in a friend's birdcage area and making a sharply dressed picnic area out of it.

For those of you that were crammed into the stands or quing up at the bar we recommend that you try our style next year. It's the only way to go - although our productivity at the office on wednesday morning was unusually low ;)

Who won? Well i think my horse got shot after the race (and i'm not joking) ... but one of our Ambient Lounge crew had more than a fiver on the eventual winner "Protectionist". Her shout then we cried.

 

 

Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne at #mooneyvalley and punters backed a winner by scoring a VIP bean bag at the post. #poleposition #winning

A photo posted by Ambient Lounge (@ambientlounge) on Oct 10, 2014 at 12:25pm PDT

 

Is Melbourne Cup the World's biggest Horse Race? 

The Melbourne Cup Carnival goes beyond being just a horse race.

A quick Google search of the ‘World’s best horse races’ produces some consistent results: the Kentucky Derby, Royal Ascot, Prix de L’arc de Triomphe, the Breeders’ Cup and the Melbourne Cup. So do we now top that list? Well we're pretty biased i guess but unequivocally we say YES.

Why? Unlike those other races, the Melbourne Cup is one mega party where horse racing itself is the sideshow. You wont see 100,000 people partying in their sunday best like they didnt have a care in the world at those other tracks ...and thats what makes the Melbourne Cup so special. (The whole Spring Carnival for that matter starting with Derby Day). Our Cup has got a long and colourful history dating way back to 1861 thats so important to Melbournians that we even get the day off.

I love telling my overseas friends that we have a public holiday for a 3 minute horse race. It's insane. Pretty much every Aussie tunes in for the race once a year no matter what your background or age. It's just tradition. It's culture and the party sems to be getting bigger every year.

If the elements of winnings, spectators and general grandeur are all considered, Melbourne Cup & spring racing carnival celebrates Melbourne in the best possible way - in good spirits (literally). As I sit in my Ambient Lounge Butterfly Chair in the get out stakes, I’m going look round and appreciate another year of great fun with friends and family at these unique races.

             Now ...bring on the summer please!