Melbourne Cup 2005

Once again on the last Saturday before the first Tuesday in November – a date now synonymous with the Melbourne Cup Party in Mauritius – punters turned out in droves to the Australian High Commissioner’s residence. Sporting many and varied costumes and spectacular hats, around 80 party people turned up to celebrate one of Australia’s premier sporting events.

Of course the main reason people were there was for the racing. In all, five races were run on the night. The first race – the Education Derby – pitted well known local education personalities against each other. Race 2 was the Barwick Estate Cup, where our sponsor – Anthony Coombes of Scott & Co Ltd, riding Whino Boy – only just failed to win his race. Other races included the Floreal Handicap, the Expatriate’s Plate and the Port Louis Cup.

Bottles of Barwick Estate and Jacob’s Creek wine (kindly donated by our sponsor – Scott & Co Ltd) were awarded as prizes for best costume, the hat parade and, of course, for all our winning horses on the night. But for those who were not lucky enough to win a prize, they were still able to taste these fantastic wines at the wine tasting table.

Entry to the races for punters was by contribution of a plate of food. The resulting feast was a smorgasbord of curries, lasagnes, salads and other dishes and certainly made the food a real highlight of the night.

Femke Rensen was granted the ultimate honour by the judges for wearing the best hat – a fine watermelon skin number tastefully decorated with pineapple leaves and purple tulle.

Sally and Azim Currimjee were jointly awarded best costume for a very colourful ensemble of orange and purple robes and punctuated with fantastically large hats. Kristy Cook was a deserved runner-up for her fine impersonation of the Statue of Liberty. The Australian High Commission lads – Ian, Stuart and Gerard – were well coordinated as jockeys for the night.

The final event of the evening was the Calcutta Auction. An event for the real gamblers, each horse from the field from the real Melbourne Cup race was auctioned off to the highest bidder. Cup favourite, Makybe Diva, sold for 3,000 rupees. When Makybe Diva won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, the 3,000 investment multiplied to yield the bidder 18,000 rupees.

The Australian High Commission would like to thank all those who participated and made it such a fun night. For those people who were not there, mark it in your diary now – the last Saturday before the first Tuesday in November – the Australian High Commission’s Melbourne Cup Party.

And finally, Libby McCutchan has reported that there are still a few abandoned dishes at the residence. If you are missing a dish, please contact either the High Commission or Libby directly, otherwise the will be used at the next Greek wedding!