The Melbourne Cup, by Rae Davison

THE MELBOURNE CUP

By Rae Davison

The sport of kings, and the king of sports that’s what they call horse racing

It’s not the one that pulls the cart, for that one’s known as pacing

It’s the jockeys with their colours, racing ‘round the track

The first one past the winning post, well that’s the one to back

Australians love to gamble, horse racing and two up

Have you heard of Archer, first winner of the Cup

They walked him down from Sydney, in 1861

Then raced him in the Melbourne Cup, the start of things to come

Our soldiers when away at war, liked to be cheered up

I’m told they used to hold their fire, to hear the Melbourne Cup

Flemington on race day is a picture to behold

With the gardens and the fashions, and the stories that are told

There’s Comic Court and Pharlap, Rising Fast and Tulloch too

Not forgetting Rain Lover, I’ll only name a few

Makybe Diva takes the prize, three wins in a row

Who will beat that record, some will have a go

Some horses didn’t win the Cup, Gunsynd we hold up high

When Higgens rode that champion and lost, we didn’t cry

First Tuesday in November, if you’re rich or real hard up

We all place a dollar on the famous Melbourne