Melbourne Cup parade scratched, but could be back in 2024
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Key points
- The Melbourne Cup Parade will not be held through Melbourne’s streets this year.
- The Melbourne Cup Parade is a tradition which has run every year since 1983 except in 2020 and 2021 when halted by the pandemic.
- The City of Melbourne is not providing funding for this year’s parade as the Victoria Racing Club did not apply for it.
The annual parade of Melbourne Cup-winning horses and jockeys through the city has been cancelled for this year.
The City of Melbourne is not funding the parade, which traditionally takes place on the eve of the Cup after the Victoria Racing Club did not apply for funding.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson with the Melbourne Cup parade crowd at Federation Square last year.Credit: Eddie Jim
However, the VRC has applied to council for funding for a parade in 2024, so it is likely it will return then.
VRC chief executive Steve Rosich said the club looked forward to soon unveiling its plans for Melbourne Cup eve celebrations.
“We have a longstanding relationship with the City of Melbourne and our plans this year will include a feature event in the city,” he said.
The Melbourne Cup parade is a tradition that has run every year since 1983, except in 2020 and 2021 when halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year’s parade featured former winning horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and celebrities and was presided over by Lord Mayor Sally Capp.
However, the parade has become a flashpoint for animal rights protests and has been under pressure for several years with councillor Rohan Leppert moving an unsuccessful motion in 2019 to scrap it.
Leppert said he continued to oppose the use of ratepayers’ money for the Melbourne Cup parade, which involved shutting down trams along city streets.
“Staging a parade on the world’s busiest tram corridor doesn’t come cheap,” he said. “That cost has been greatly subsidised by City of Melbourne ratepayers in the past with diminishing public benefit. The parade has had its day.”
Protesters demonstrate alongside Flinders Street Station during last year’s Melbourne Cup parade.Credit: Getty Images
A spokeswoman for the City of Melbourne said the amount of funding given to the parade could not be disclosed as it was commercial in confidence.
Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses campaign director Elio Celotto said there was no doubt that pressure from animal rights protestors had led to the parade being cancelled after the group protested at the parade last year.
“Last year in the two hours people were waiting for the parade to start, there was around 100 of us and we were chanting ‘horse racing kills’ and I think it is definitely a sobering reality for people who were there to find out so many horses are killed for the sake of sport,” he said.
Celotto said the group had been planning a demonstration at this year’s Melbourne Cup parade before it was cancelled.
“We had been planning to read out the names of all the horses that have been killed in the last six months,” he said.
He said 168 horses have been killed on track this year and, to honour those horses, the demonstration would continue even without the parade.
“The racing industry has realised for some time now that horse racing in its current form is no longer acceptable and that has caused the demise of the Melbourne Cup parade, and we look forward to the day that happens to the Melbourne Cup race itself,” he said.
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