I don’t really know a lot about the Melbourne Cup, in fact, I didn’t even know such a thing existed before I left Brisbane a few short days ago.

But my wife and I learned a bit. The best we could come up with, was that this was similar to the big three races of the Triple Crown in the US, one race (per day) matters more than all the others. Of course that is probably an over simplification, but, well, I’m trying.

The Melbourne Cup race was the 7th race of the day, on Melbourne Cup day.

Matthew and Ryan in the Grand Hyatt Melbourne ‘s Grand Club warned us: find a good place to watch the race, around 3pm, and make sure your glasses are topped up, because the whole city stops for the race.

It did.

We watched, not really knowing who to root for, there was an American horse, Sky Snow, that stayed in 4th place for much of the race, but then in the last quarter of the race, we started hearing about the Prince of Penzance.

Of course I was reminded of taking my wife to see the Pirates of Penzance during our first trip to Australia, but before I started singing that I was a Modern Major General, the race was over. It was evident that the more important aspect of the race, was of the Prince (of Penzance) and the young lady on his back.

They were a 100 to 1 long shot. I’ll let that sink in.

Further, Michelle Payne, the jockey, was the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. Wow.

In her acceptance speech, she stated:

I knew that with Victorian Darren Weir (the trainer), that if I kept showing up, working hard, he’d give me a go.

There is a lot of wisdom to be had here. Perhaps the biggest message, that I hear from that, is that: If you keep at it, if you keep showing up, you’ll get a chance–in this case, to make history.

Wrapping Up

For my wife and I, this was an entertaining race to watch. But it was even more special for us, to see history being made. A woman jockey winning the Melbourne Cup, and at that, a 100 to 1 odds, horse. But for me, the thing that hit home the most, is the fact that the jockey, Michelle Payne, essentially said, if you really want to make it, you have to keep showing up.