THE Melbourne Cup is coming to Ireland next weekend. You can catch it at the Horse & Jockey Hotel in Co Tipperary on Sunday, August 4th, or at Naas Racecourse the following day.

Jane Mangan and Johnny Looby will host a special Melbourne Cup evening in the Horse & Jockey, starting at 7pm. Admission is free and there will be several racing personalities present to share stories, followed by refreshments and live music. Donations to Irish Injured Jockeys will be accepted on the night.

Last year Naas Racecourse was the venue chosen by trainer Willie Mullins to give Vauban his final Melbourne Cup prep race, which he won before starting favourite for the Cup on his very next start.

There is another little-known Kildare connection with “the race that stops a nation”. Robert Cooper Bagot was born in Fontstown, Co Kildare, in 1827. He emigrated to Australia in 1849 and became the first secretary of the Victoria Racing Club in 1864. His innovative redesign of Flemington Racecourse and successful lobbying for a Melbourne Cup Day half-holiday expanded the race’s appeal. Naas Racecourse has named a race in his honour on Monday.

The day also features a Treo Eile retired racehorse parade which will feature Max Dynamite who was twice placed twice in the Melbourne Cup.

Now in its 164th year the Melbourne Cup is the world’s richest handicap with prize money of over A$8 million. The Cup is believed to be worth $750,000.

Entirely handcrafted every year and made of 18 carat 100% Australian yellow gold on a wooden plinth made of Western Australia jarrah, the cup famously has three handles, symbolising the relationship between the winning jockey, trainer and owner.

There have been four Irish-trained winners of the Cup, two each for trainers Dermot Weld and Joseph O’Brien. Weld created racing history when he struck with Vintage Crop in 1993 and he did it again in 2002 with Media Puzzle.

At 24 years of age, O’Brien became the youngest trainer to win the Cup in 2017 when Rekindling was victorious. Just three years later the trainer and his team overcame complications caused by the pandemic to send Twilight Payment to Flemington and record another incredible result for Irish racing.