Item HT 15594 Pass - Emirates Melbourne Cup Carnival, Stakes Day, 05/11/2005

Summary

This pass was issued to Dr Patrick Greene, Director of Museum Victoria, for the Emirates Melbourne Cup Carnival Stakes Day on the 5th November, 2005.

Physical Description

Consists of a rectangular clear plastic pocket, with an opening at one end. Also at this end is a yellow fabric lanyard attached through two punched holes by a metal clip. Inside the pocket one care; a pass to the Racing Victoria Marquee.

Significance

This material relates to one person's experience at the 2005 Melbourne Cup Carnival, held at Flemington Racecourse from the 29th October to the 5th November, 2005. The 2005 Melbourne Cup race was significant as the unprecedented third consecutive win by champion racehorse Makybe Diva. Many called it the most significant, and exciting, cup win since Phar Lap's in 1930. Jockey Glenn Boss even dubbed her Phar Lap the 2nd. There were many debates, particularly in the media, over whether Makybe Diva was a greater horse than Phar Lap. The success of Makybe Diva was celebrated by Racing Victoria on the following Saturday as part of the Emirates Stakes Day.
Currently this material falls slightly outside of the appropriate Collection Policy, which states that the Museum will collect "objects associated with the horse and his career, and the process of memorialisation that occurred after his death. Souvenirs, photographs and memories are all collected, and changes in the way Phar Lap is remembered are being recorded" Although this material arguably relates to "changes in the way Phar Lap is remembered", it may be necessary to add a reference to the `Makybe Diva' phenomenon as an significant contemporary comparison with the Phar Lap story. It is prosed to use this comparison in the new Phar Lap exhibition due to open in 2008.