The 2011 Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour arrived in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, to be treated to a fantastic tour of the quaint community of Greytown, home of the Trentham race course and renowned thoroughbred sales, where some of the world’s finest horses have passed through the ring.

Intrinsically linked to Australia’s greatest race, Greytown is also home to the infamous Platform Farm Stables, the breeding ground for 1954 Melbourne Cup winning horse, Rising Fast, who still holds the record for winning the treble - Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup - in the same year.

At Platform Farm Stables, the Tour party met the connections of Rising Fast, including the Spring family (owners), who brought the 1954 Melbourne Cup trophy with them, and the Robertson family (breeders).

Ironically, the stables sit on a property now owned by a successful dairy farmer, who had planned to demolish the stables until finding out a couple of months ago of its historical link.

The Tour party, including VRC Vice Chair, Mrs Amanda Elliott and Tour Ambassador Melbourne Cup winning jockey, John Marshall (Rogan Josh, 1999), were greeted at the Greytown Hall in a civic reception by Mayor of South Wairarapa, Councillor Adrienne Staples.

To honour Rising Fast’s Melbourne Cup win in 1954, the community celebrated the Tour’s arrival with a 1950’s theme including horse and carriage rides, balloons along the street in Rising Fast’s colours, special Melbourne Cup shaped chocolates and other market stalls with samples of the region’s finest produce.

In the afternoon, the Cup visited the Workingmen’s Club, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, where patrons enjoyed hearing stories of John Marshall’s trials and tribulations with Melbourne Cup success and his illustrious racing career.

The day concluded with a reception at the Wellington City Council Chambers hosted by Mayor Celia Waide-Brown and attended by Mrs Amanda Gorely, Deputy Head of Mission for the Australian High Commission and CEO of the New Zealand Racing Board, Mr Bill Colgan.

Next stop, the Tour visits Auckland for the Melbourne Cup Carnival Racing Luncheon at The Langham Hotel.

To view further images of the EMCT and track the Tour’s progress, visit Flemington on Facebook.