Boorowa And Harden-Murrumburrah Join Racing History

Boorowa and Harden-Murrumburrah joined racing history last week when they played host to the $750,000, 18-carat-gold Melbourne Cup trophy as part of the 22nd edition of the Lexus.

Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour ambassador and 36-time Lexus Melbourne Cup race caller, Greg Miles accompanied the iconic trophy on its tour of New South Wales starting at Boorowa Multiple Service and Boorowa Auxiliary Hospital.

Lucky residents gathered for morning tea as Mr Miles shared his favourite members of the “race that stops a nation”.

The tour then made the journey to Cootamundra on Tuesday, July 9 where it made a special visit to the world’s oldest cowboy, Bob Holder who turned 93 on Thursday, July 11, runs a small cattle property outside of Cootamundra and has been competing in rodeos for 78 years.

He plans to compete at the upcoming Mt Isa Queensland rodeo in August.

Mr Holder said he fell in love with horses as a boy and was thrilled to have the iconic Lexus Melbourne Cup trophy visit his community.

“It’s an Australian icon and it is the race that stops a nation, it is a great race, and it is world famous,” Mr Holder said.

“I don’t watch races through the week but I always watch the Melbourne Cup.

“It puts Cootamundra on the map and the people will be so excited to watch the Melbourne Cup after this.”

The Lexus Melbourne Cup also attended a community event at the Old Desis Building in the town centre of Cootamundra, where loc als had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close with the trophy before it made its way to Harden-Murrumburrah for a community fair to celebrate the trophy’s arrival, including a grand parade.

In the afternoon, the iconic trophy visited aged care residents at Harden Grange Aged Care before concluding its day with an evening event at the Harden Country Club.

Guests were invited to get up close and experience the magic of the People’s Cup and hear from ambassador Greg Miles.

The coveted trophy moved on to Barellan for a morning filled with family friendly festivities to celebrate the tour’s arrival including a billy boiling competition, sack races, egg and spoon races and horse wagon rides.

As part of the visit the tour cough up with working Clydesdales.

Mr Miles said it was great to share the magic of the Lexus Melbourne Cup with country NSW residents.

“Coming to the country is so heartwarming, they just get it,” Mr Miles said.

“When they see the Lexus Melbourne Cup their eyes light up and they understand what the Cup means.

“It is part of being Australian, it is in our DNA and just to see the look on people’s faces when they get to hold the iconic trophy and get their photo taken.”

The tour of regional New South Wales concluded with an evening event at the Barellan and District War Memorial club.

Locals gathered for a photo opportunity with the $750,000 18-carat-gold trophy before Mr Miles shared his favourite racing memories.

Boorowa, Harden-Murrumburrah, Cootamundra and Barellan will each be part of the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour National Sweep, an important VRC charity initiative which sees 24 rural and regional towns allocated a barrier and the correlating runner in the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Two representative from each of the 24 destinations will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Flemington, courtesy of the VRC, to watch the Lexux Melbourne Cup and cheer home their horse.

The town with the winning horse will be presented with $50,000 to put towards a charity of their choice.

Next, the People’s Cup will make the journey to the Northern Territory to visit Darwin, Katherine and Tennant Creek.

This year’s Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour will see the iconic trophy travel to 39 destinations, with the final route spanning six countries including Australia, Japan, USA, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Since its first journey in 2003, the tour has travelled over one-million kilometres, visiting more than 640 destinations to unite communities and provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close and experience the magic of the People’s Cup.

This includes visiting 482 schools, 401 hospitals and aged care facilities, participating in over 2100 community events and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for local fundraising initiatives.

Visit www.MelbourneCupTour.com.au for further information about the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour.

• Topics:

• Equestrian