2011 Melbourne Cup 2011 Melbourne Cup The 2011 Emirates Melbourne Cup, the 151st running of Australia's most prestigious Thoroughbred horse race, was held on Tuesday, 1 November 2011 at 3:00 pm (AEDT), at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse. Dunaden won in a photo finish over Red Cadeaux in the closest finish in Melbourne Cup history. The winning jockey, Frenchman Christophe Lemaire, had arrived in Australia less than a day previously as a late replacement for Craig Williams. Six out of seven finishers were international horses. Third placed Lucas Cranach was the best locally trained finisher and fourth placed was the pre-race favourite, the 2010 winner,
Melbourne Cup placed a bet on the race that year. In 2010 it was predicted that $183 million would be spent by 83,000 tourists during the Spring Racing Carnival. In New Zealand, the Melbourne Cup is the country's single biggest betting event, with carnival race-days held at several of the country's top tracks showing the cup live on big screens. It is commonly billed as "The race that stops a nation", but it is more accurately "The race that stops two nations", as many people in New Zealand, as well as Australia, pause to watch the race. Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup