Melbourne Cup tours the region

WITH little less than two weeks to go until the Melbourne Cup, locals have been lucky enough to get up close and personal with the eponymous trophy.

The 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup visited the Wellington Shire as part of a regional tour facilitated by the Victoria Racing Club (VRC).

Its appearance was guaranteed because of separate submissions by the Maffra RSL Sub-Branch and Seaspray Surf Life Saving Club.

Maffra RSL president Kevin Christensen was responsible for coordinating the first day of proceedings, and explained how the opportunity to host “The Cup” came about.

“Back in early March, one of my RSL club members threw down a newspaper article for me and said, ‘I think you should take care of this, boss’,” Mr Christensen said.

“That was an advertisement from the VRC to say they’re doing the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup tour to 24 regional towns; and that if we want it to come to our town, we needed to put in a submission … that would stack-up against all the other towns that applied.

“So we figured a plan for the team to spend 36 hours in Maffra on a day of our choosing; and they (VRC) were suitably impressed.

“I’ll say a little bit unfortunately, we didn’t get a day of our choosing, but … in a way it was good, because it is close to the Cup – two weeks away – so the Cup is on people’s minds.”

Meanwhile, Seaspray SLSC’s vice-president Ernie Hug was the coordinator of day two’s activities.

His organisation came to learn about the tour through its treasurer, David Conway, who overheard an advertisement on 3AW radio station.

As per the advertisement’s instructions, he applied online with a video sent through by the surf club.

“He uploaded it, and we submitted our submissions and we never thought about it again, to be honest,” Mr Hug said.

“And then all of a sudden, we get an email saying, ‘You’ve been selected.’

“Never in our lives would we think we’d be shortlisted.”

The Cup’s journey began on Tuesday morning at the Patrobas statue in Rosedale, a monument built to honour the racehorse of the same name.

Patrobas was owned by Mrs Edith Widdis, who resided on a farm in Nambrok with her husband and family.

The colt earned its place in history by winning the 1915 Melbourne Cup, becoming the first horse owned by a woman to claim the prize.

Amazingly, Michelle Payne became the first woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup exactly 100 years later, carrying the same saddle cloth number.

The statue and Cup were accompanied by a 1915 Ford Model T pick-up truck, and the original 1915 trophy presented to Mrs Widdis.

Known as the “Widdis Cup”, the trophy was granted a rare public appearance by Mrs Widdis’ great-grandson Andrew Widdis, who owns the item in trust.

Mr Widdis was among the dignitaries present for the Cup’s visit to Rosedale.

“To have a great-grandmother that was the first female to own a horse that won the Melbourne Cup, I’m so proud,” Mr Widdis said.

“(For) a female, 100-plus years ago to be able to do as she wished and to have a husband that supported that; I think it’s a wonderful legacy the Widdis family has.”

The significance of seeing his family’s trophy alongside its modern-day equivalent was not lost on Mr Widdis.

“Rosedale was always considered the hometown for the farm that the Widdis family used to own at Nambrok, so to have the (1915) Melbourne Cup along with the current Melbourne Cup is just wonderful,” he said.

“My great-aunt, who previously owned the Melbourne Cup, always through that it was Gippsland’s Melbourne Cup, because it’s the only cup that’s been won in Gippsland, so it’s wonderful to see the community take it on-board.”

The occasion was the first time that the Widdis Cup had been seen in Rosedale since 2015 – the centenary of Patrobas’ victory.

It presently resides, enclosed in glass, on the first floor of the Port of Sale building for public viewing.

Following its appearance in Rosedale, the 2022 Melbourne Cup then ventured to Maffra, where it was ridden around in a unique, and fitting mode of transport – three horse-drawn vehicles provided by the Eastern Victoria Pleasure Harness Club.

This was preceded by visits to St Mary’s Primary School on Duke Street and Maffra Primary School on Church Street, then a luncheon at Maffra RSL, which served as a concurrent celebration of the Maffra Sub-Branch’s 100th anniversary.

More visits to Stretton Park aged-care facility and Duart Homestead followed, before the Cup was displayed at the Rotunda on Johnson Street.

There, its arrival was heralded by Maffra Municipal Band’s Gavin Mann sounding the First Call on his trumpet.

The Cup and its delegation were given a Welcome to Country by Aunty Sandra Nielson at 4.30pm, and shown a two-part performance by Ramahyuck’s cultural dancers – firstly a cleansing ceremony to ward-off evil spirits, and then a gathering ceremony.

The long day was capped-off with a dinner at the Maffra Community Sports Club, with the Municipal Band also in attendance.

Mr Christensen said he was most pleased with how the day unfolded.

“I think the weather has just been absolutely beautiful; all the people I’ve come across have had smiles on their faces; they’ve been impressed with the Cup, and some of the responses (were) just amazing,” Mr Christensen said.

He said the touring contingent had received “wonderful support from everybody we’ve dealt with in the whole process.”

On Wednesday, it was Seaspray’s turn to host the Melbourne Cup, beginning with an outing to Seaspray Primary School, where pupils and their counterparts from Woodside Primary viewed the trophy and learned of the race’s history.

From there, the tour continued to the local caravan park and general store, before concluding with a “long lunch” at the Seaspray Surf Life Saving Club’s bistro.

The 2022 Melbourne Cup took pride and place in the room of 110 attendees, flanked by the 2022 Sale Cup and the original 1860 Sale Cup.

With Seaspray being the last stop in the contingent’s regional tour before returning to Melbourne, the occasion marked a fitting end.

“There’s 15,000 towns in Australia – not all of them applied, but to be selected and to be the last town … that they’re visiting, is quite extraordinary,” Mr Hug said.

Throughout its two-day visit, the Cup was accompanied by tour manager Joe McGrath and Cup ambassador Michael Rodd, who himself won the prize in 2007 as the jockey of Efficient.

The former is a veteran of the tour, having been involved for 20 years, while for the latter, it is his first time participating.

Mr Rodd described the experience as “fantastic”, and said it was surprising to see how everyone gets excited about seeing the cup.

“Going to the schools and seeing the kids and their reactions and their questions was very special,” Mr Rodd said.

Mr Christensen was full of praise for the jockey, noting how Mr Rodd fielded the “in-depth” questions from Maffra’s primary school students.

“He has a wonderful touch with people – he is a really nice bloke, and spoke to the kids as an equal and answered their questions beautifully,” Mr Christensen said.

Joe McGrath had praise of his own for the “extremely well-organised” Mr Christensen.

“There wasn’t too many parts of the community that we didn’t come across, and it was a lot of fun,” Mr McGrath said of his visit to Maffra.

For the residents of Maffra, Seaspray and Rosedale, the Cup’s visit presented the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about, see, or even hold the trophy, if they were lucky enough.

Mr Hug described the occasion as an “historical moment” for the community.

“Who knows,” he said, “it might not be here for another 100 years.”