After The Cup.

Local Personalities who need no formal introduction….
www.heraldsun.com.au

For us humans, Melbourne Cup Day is that one Tuesday of the year where it’s perfectly acceptable to get dressed up to the nines, have champagne with lunch (or at morning tea instead of your regular coffee order), have a bit of a flutter and make some headlines. The three minute, two mile race that starts at 3pm seems a bit of an afterthought. The day’s celebrations often unraveling by around that time anyway when an early finish at work or finding a taxi go get you home from a Cup Day function are of more pressing importance.

www.theage.com.au

The aftermath of this year’s race for the horses who competed was somewhat more dire than being stranded with aching feet from your heels and a touch of sunburn to add to the beginnings of an epic hangover.

www.heraldsun.com.au

Pre race favourite, Admire Rakti from Japan died suddenly after coming last in the race. Early interviews given by representatives of the racing industry suggest that the cause of death was a form of sudden cardiac death syndrome. Araldo, another competitor had to be put down after he startled and fractured a leg in a freak incident involving a member of the public getting a little too close with a waving flag.

In all our rush to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of a day that only came about because of our mastery over another species, have we neglected to consider if we do enough to protect the health and safety of the real stars of the day? Are there better ways to monitor the health of horses undertaking a gruelling international racing schedule? Should the public be kept even further away from the exhausted horses after their race?

If only horses had voices.

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