The Flemington experience

A large part of my trip to Melbourne was to go to the races down there (as you would expect from me) and it was simply awesome.

Even though I have worked in the industry for closing on nine years I felt like a bit of a kid going to the big smoke for the first time. (Ironic since I was travelling from the biggest city in the country to the second biggest).

When I arrived at Flemington (the racecourse where the Melbourne Cup is held for those who don't know) the first person I encountered was someone I knew from Sydney (a racing official) and he and a few others were heading onto the course to check it out. I tagged along and got to walk up and down the home straight for as long as I liked.

In contrast to the day before the conditions were much more comfortable and there was even a breeze - ideal conditions for a race meeting.

I wandered on the track for about half an hour before heading off to meet a number of people, which was my aim for the day.

I watched the last race from the grandstand as opposed to the mounting area and it was great to take in the whole track.

I also played racing fan a bit by hanging out and having a look at Weekend Hussler, one of the best racehorses in the country when he arrived at the horse stalls. The trainer gave me a cap and I had a bit of a chat to him. There was quite a crowd around to check him out.

I didn't take any pictures of his race, he ran fourth and was quite unlucky.

The second photo i of an earlier race, the winner is the horse to the far left and is just about to get a clear run. It was taken about 300m from the winning post and you can also see a bit of the Melbourne skyline in the background.

The day seemed to fly by. I met a couple of great young racing reporters there. One of them surprised me a bit by telling me he remembered reading some of my stuff when he was a teenager. It made me feel a bit old but he said he was 25.

Still it was weird to meet someone like that who had read my stories from a different state.
After the races I headed straight to the airport for the trip back. Airports are fairly boring and once you've checked in I found there was little in the way of decent food.

Anyway it was a great experience all up and I will definitely do it again, but perhaps in a less whirlwind way.