The Melbourne Cup Carnival Gala Dinner was held at Shanghai's Ritz-Carlton on 3 July and celebrated the A$6.2 million Emirates Melbourne Cup with the iconic A$175,000 trophy acting as an envoy to promote bilateral trade, tourism and strategic alliances between Australia and China.
Special guests, including Hurun Report Founder Rupert Hoogewerf, Commissioner for Victoria to Greater China Patrick Stringer, Inglis Deputy Chairman Arthur Inglis, and Shanghai International Equestrian & Polo Club Chairman and President Alex Wu, received a personal welcome and invitation to attend the 2014 Emirates Melbourne Cup from Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle via video link.
Highlighting the Melbourne Cup Carnival's social and fashion spectacle, internationally renowned Melbourne-based Myer milliner Kim Fletcher showcased hats from her latest collection in a runway parade featuring Myer designers White Suede, Wayne Cooper, Ellery, Morrison, Toni Maticevski and Karen Millen.
Emirates Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Melbourne while the race – known as “the race that stops a nation” in Australia – attracts an international television audience of 700 million in 163 territories.
VRC CEO Julian Sullivan said Chinese visitors are attending the Melbourne Cup Carnival in greater numbers each year.
“While China is Australia's largest trading partner, the friendship between our two countries has been cemented through tourism, business, cultural exchange and, increasingly, racing,” Mr Sullivan said.
“While a racing event at its core, the Melbourne Cup Carnival is an annual celebration that combines the very best of what Melbourne has to offer in food, wine, sport, business, social interaction and fashion.
“It's a privilege to celebrate the Melbourne Cup Carnival, Australia's greatest horse racing event, here with our friends in Shanghai in this, the year of the horse.
“Just last year, part owner Barry Pang became, we believe, the first Chinese-Australian owner of an Emirates Melbourne Cup winner with Fiorente."
The four day Melbourne Cup Carnival features eight Group 1 races and generates a gross economic benefit of more than A$700 million to the Australian economy.
Racing links between Australia and China date as far back as 1862 when one of Australia's leading racehorses, Exeter, was sold for 100 pounds to owners in Shanghai and exported to race in China, where it one more than 100 times its purchase price in prize money.
For more information on the Melbourne Cup Carnival visit www.melbournecup.com
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