CASTERTON is one of 33 destinations that will host the $175,000, 18-carat gold Melbourne Cup trophy tour.
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The cup will be in the town on October 22 and 23 as part of the 13th annual tour.
The ‘People’s Cup’ will travel to 33 towns and cities across Australia, New Zealand, and for the first time, Malaysia, where it will join a special World War II memorial service.
The destinations were announced at the Kensington Primary School on Tuesday. Pupils participated in a mock barrier draw alongside Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee Glen Boss, the 2003-2005 Melbourne Cup-winning jockey, and 2000 Melbourne Cup winner Brew.
Victoria Racing Club racing engagements manager Joe McGrath said the Casterton Racing Club had put forward a strong submission to host the famous trophy.
“We had lots of applications from all parts of Australia and overseas to host the trophy,” Mr McGrath said. “Casterton put a lot of time into their submission.
“The Casterton community are getting right behind the event. We’ve found that when the trophy has been in the Western District previously, all events have been outstanding successes.”
The town will host a charity dinner to mark the occasion.
The Melbourne Cup will travel for 118 days before returning to Melbourne for the ‘race that stops a nation’ on the first Tuesday in November.
The Melbourne Cup Trophy Tour has visited more than 300 regional, rural and metropolitan destinations since 2003 and hundreds of thousands of people have had the chance to hold the treasured trophy.
This year communities are encouraged to upload photos with the cup to the VRC’s social media platforms for the chance to win a trip for two to Flemington to join over 100,000 racegoers and witness the excitement and thrill of the Melbourne Cup.
Competition entries must be tagged with #PeoplesCup and #EmiratesMelbourneCup to be valid.
