2012-11-06          Today is Melbourne Cup day!

At 3pm Melbourne time this afternoon, the whole of Australia and people in many other parts of the world, will stop for several minutes to watch or listen to one of the world's great horse races: the Melbourne Cup.

Run over 3,200 meters, the cup is one of the richest races in the world, offering total prize money of more than six million Australian dollars.
This is why many horses from other countries take part, and take part very successfully. The last two cups have been won by French horses.

On this day in Australia every group of people, in offices, schools and  factories, participate in a "sweep"... not with a broom, but by taking part in a competition which allocates the names of  horses in the cup, hoping to obtain  the winner or other place-getters.

The cup is usually shown live on Hong Kong TV, and of course can be accessed on the internet. Today at noon Hong Kong time, if you try to contact the Australian Consulate-General or other Australian centers,
you might have a little bit of trouble finding people!