Cardinia gets glimpse of Cup

THE Emirates Melbourne Cup took in the sights of Cardinia Shire last week as part of a whistlestop tour that will end at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.
Cup ambassadors, racecaller Bryan Martin and fashion ambassador Georgia Connelly, accompanied Australia’s most famous trophy around the shire on Thursday 20 October.
The tour started at Emerald Primary School, then made its way to Puffing Billy, where it travelled from Emerald train station to the Lakeside station at Emerald Lake Park.
From there, the cup was taken to the Cardinia Shire headquarters in Officer for a civic reception, then to the Hillview aged care facility in Bunyip and finished by taking centre stage at Pakenham Racing Club’s first night race meeting of the year at Racing.com Park in Tynong.
There the cup was reunited with last year’s winning jockey Michelle Payne, who rode a winner on the Pakenham card for her brother Patrick Payne.
For more photos and a story on Pakenham’s dual link to Melbourne Cup winners, pick up a copy of this week’s Pakenham-Berwick Gazette in newsagencies and other outlets.