13 August 2011

The southern NSW town of Corowa enthusiastically welcomed the Tour today with a community street parade, where more than one thousand residents braved a chilly breeze lining the streets to view the Cup. 

Kids enjoyed the jumping castle, face painting and hobby horse races and we smashed the record for the longest line of line dancers in the Murray Guinness Book of Records. Corowa Primary School students demonstrated their incredible creative talent with a hat and hobby horse parade before enjoying the yabby races.

Followed by a light lunch at the Golf Club, the Cup moved to Southern Cross Karinya Apartments before visiting the Rutherglen Football Club to arrive at half time to find the home team leading and high spirits around the ground.

A lap around the football oval in a Mustang convertible was John Letts highlight of the day as he and the Cup were on show to the roar of the crowd. Meanwhile, VRC Historian Dr Andrew Lemon entertained the audience with fascinating stories of the Cup’s rich history and the sports fans surrounded the group for photos, just in time for the home team to walk away winners – perhaps it was the magic of the iconic trophy that helped bring home victory. 

The Tour made a brief appearance at Gallery 294 to celebrate the opening of the Melbourne Cup themed exhibition before frocking up for the Emirates Melbourne Cup Gala Dinner, held at the Corowa RSL Club. It was a wonderfully entertaining night, The Stockyard put on a spectacular performance and there was even a real horse in the ballroom!

From New South Wales, the Tour now heads to Western Australia - to view further images of the EMCT and track the Tour’s progress, visit our Facebook page, Flemington: Home of Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Photo: John Letts and the Emirates Melbourne Cup with the winning Corowa-Rutherglen Football Club