After watching hometown horse Knight’s Choice win last year’s ‘race that stops the nation’, Walcha will welcome this year’s Melbourne Cup trophy on Friday, August 15.
This is the first time that the 18-carat gold, $850,000 trophy will be seen in the Northern Tablelands town since the tour – which has racked up more than one million kilometres and has stopped at almost 700 locations around Australia and overseas – started in 2003.
Walcha council said the tour itinerary will include ‘a variety of community activities, giving locals the rare chance to see the Melbourne Cup up close and celebrate our towns resilience, racing spirit, and regional pride.’
On Facebook, residents reacted to the news with excitement, saying it was ‘wonderful news’. One person said ‘well done Walcha!’ and that they would love to hold the cup.
With Walcha part of this year’s tour, the town has been given a barrier in this year’s race. If the horse that wins comes from Walcha’s barrier, local charity the Walcha and District Historical Society has been nominated to receive a donation of $50,000.
Walcha locals Norm and Di Bazeley of thoroughbred stud Elswick Park, the breeders of Knight’s Choice, represented the community at the official tour launch in Melbourne at the end of May.
Norm said after his stud’s bay gelding won last year’s race at 80-1 odds that ‘it’s just unbelievable … it’s storybook stuff isn’t it?’
Knight’s Choice is the second horse that was bred in Walcha to win a Melbourne Cup after Blue Spec won it in 1905.
The trophy will arrive in Walcha after a trip across the Nullarbor Desert from Toodyay, Western Australia, before going to the regional Victorian town of Gunbower.
Walcha’s tourism office says it is working with the Victorian Racing Club to finalise the itinerary.
For more information or to get involved, contact Walcha’s visitor information centre.
Advertising with New England Times is a cost effective and reliable way to reach New England locals who are interested and engaged. Find out more here.