Melbourne Cup trophy in Echuca

The piece de resistance of course was horse racing’s most coveted prize, the Lexus Melbourne Cup trophy.

Valued at more than $300,000, the three-handle Cup consists of 1.65kg of pure 18-carat gold and features a jarrah wood base.

The Cup trophy is sourced and made in Australia, and is handcrafted over the course of 250 hours.

This year marks the 20th year of the tour, which has travelled to all corners of the country and internationally.

Echuca was the first Victorian destination on this year’s tour.

An excellent crowd turned out for an up close and personal look at the trophy following a Welcome To Country by Uncle Rick Ronnan.

The youngsters were entertained by a variety of family fun activities, including face painting and pony rides, as the smooth sounds of musician Heidi Moncrieff added to the relaxed atmosphere.

A special presentation was made to Echuca trainer Gwenda Johnstone and two-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey John Letts entertained those in attendance.

Mr Letts, who won the Cup in 1972 on Piping Lane and in 1980 aboard Beldale Ball, said the Cup continued to grow in stature.

“This is my 19th year as a part of the Melbourne Cup Tour and the event just gets bigger and bigger,” Mr Letts said.

“When I won the Cup as a jockey it was a quintessentially Australian race, but since Vintage Crop was the first international winner in 1993, it has become an international race.

“When Makybe Diva won her third Melbourne Cup, the coverage on Channel 7, of which I was a part of, was watched by 800 million people.

“But the Cup has not lost the ingredients what made it great, 3200m, 24 runners, the first Tuesday in November, it remains as special as ever.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Mr Letts’ first triumph and the memories of that day remain as vivid as ever.

“If you lined up 100 jockeys and said to them ‘What race would they love to win the most?’, they would say ‘the Melbourne Cup’,” he said.

“I’ve been one of the lucky ones to win it twice … I’ve been blessed, it’s like someone upstairs is looking after you.

“The race makes you a legend, look at me, 50 years after I won it for the first time, I’m still a part of it on this tour.

“That’s the beauty of history, you can’t buy it, you create it.”

Campaspe Shire Mayor Chrissy Weller said it was fantastic to see such a great crowd on hand under sunny skies.

“We’re really honoured to have part of a legendary Australian icon in Echuca and we’re very privileged to have it here," Cr Weller said.

“It is terrific to have the Melbourne Cup Trophy in Echuca and have so many people come to see it.”

Cr Weller said the Campaspe Shire “had struck the trifecta” with Echuca, Rushworth and Stanhope on the tour itinerary.

Echuca is also one of this year’s National Sweep destinations, which will see 24 rural and regional tour destinations across Australia be allocated a barrier for the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup.

The town that draws the barrier of the Cup-winning horse will be presented with a cash prize of $50,000 to put towards a charity for a local community initiative, revealed by Cr Weller.

“Our charity is Riding for the Disabled, which is a great not-for-profit cause and hopefully we can be successful in the sweep so they can get the $50,000,” she said.

Barriers for the National Sweep will be drawn later this month.

The Cup Trophy also took a journey to Moama across the newly-built Dhungala Bridge in the front seat of the Flash Fairlane convertible.

Also on display was the Gunbower Cup trophy, just days after the news this year’s event was postponed following the wet weather which lashed the region days earlier.

The Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour takes in a variety of other Victorian locations until October 19 before remaining in the state capital in the build-up to the 2022 Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, November 1.