The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s major thoroughbred horse race. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is a race for three-year-olds and over, over a distance of 3200 metres. It is the richest and most prestigious “two-mile” handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in the world. The event is held at around 3 pm on the first Tuesday in November by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. “Phar Lap”, a dark chesnut , was foaled at Timaru , New Zealand , at the seadown stud of Mr . AF Roberts on 4th October , 1926 , by the imported sire ” Night Raid ” out of “Entreaty”. He was Entreaty’s second foal . The yearling fetched a mere 160 guineas ; one of the biggest bargains in Australian turf history . “Phar Lap” is the Thai word for ” wink of the sky”, ie lightning . His wins included sequences of nine , fourteen , and eight . In dazzling burst as a three year – old ” Phar Lap ” won the Rosehill Guineas, AJC Derby and Craven plate, and VRC Derby before being beaten into third place in the 1929 Melbourne Cup. The following year , 1930 , his wins included the VRC and AJC St. Legers , all the big weight – for – age races , and the Melbourne Cup. As a five – year – old , “Phar Lap” won eight races in a row. A few weeks later he was shipped to Agua Caliente , Mexico , to compete in in the 50000 dollars Agua Caliente Handicap of 1and three quarter miles on the 20th of March , 1932. Despite the long sea voyage , the short period of …