Melbourne Cup thoroughbreds are considered the best of the best in world racing. But are they really top of the tree in the broader animal kingdom?
Articles on Melbourne Cup
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The Cup is still Australia’s biggest one-day race gambling event. But there are signs it’s no longer stopping the nation like it used to.
English model Jean Shrimpton became an accidental influencer after attending Derby Day in 1965.
Racehorses take centre stage during the Spring Racing Carnival but how exactly are they treated during their daily lives?
Labor still leads on two-party preferred, but is feeling the strain as cost of living pressures take hold.
Horses naturally synchronise their running in groups – but ‘racing’ and ‘winning’ are human concepts.
Phar Lap’s famous 1930 Melbourne Cup victory united Australia and New Zealand in celebration. Almost a century on, people still flock to visit his remains, on display at three different museums.
For years, we’ve taken major sporting events, a public holiday, added alcohol and gambling, then watched domestic violence rates rise. It’s time we did something different.
New research shows gambling participation in Australia is dropping.
As the Melbourne Cup approaches, new research shows whipping horses really doesn’t offer the benefits its proponents claim.
Racing industries put enormous effort into procuring the best young horses, but pay little attention to the fate of former (or simply unsuccessful) racers.
It’s not only fans that dress up on Melbourne Cup Day. There is plenty of gear racehorses can wear, from blinkers to nose bands, ear plugs and even a tail chain. But do they do any good?
Horse racing is enjoyed by millions of people but there are others who have concerns over animal welfare. A social license to operate may help keep all sides happy.
We all know about Phar Lap, but what about the remarkable story of Walter Craig on Nimblefoot, or the market gardener who always knew when Poseidon would win?
Today’s Melbourne Cup will be streamed on Twitter for the first time. So how much can social media compete with traditional broadcasters for sports?
Almost all of the decision-makers in horse racing are male, and they almost invariably favour their own sex.
As we celebrate the Melbourne Cup today, it’s worth taking a look at the way we nourish our champions of the turf.
Beating and overriding a horse is deemed cruel under Victoria’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986. You would never guess that from a day at the races, including Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival…
The tragic deaths of the favourite Admire Rakti and seventh placegetter Araldo soon after the Melbourne Cup has focused attention on some of the risks involved in racing horses. The Japanese horse Admire…
This is not an article about unicorns or virgins, but about the power of imagination, both wonderful and terrible. As an academic and equine artist I work between creative imagination and scientific epistemology…
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Professor, School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney
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Professor of Urban and Environmental Geography: School of Geosciences, University of Sydney
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Adjunct research fellow, School of Arts, Western Sydney University
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Head of the Equine Centre, Associate Professor of Equine Medicine and Surgery, The University of Melbourne
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Director Equine Genetics Research Centre, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney
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