No crowds? No worries
VRC PROMISE: Cup carnival will go on regardless
THE Victoria Racing Club has promised a bumper Melbourne Cup Carnival — with or without crowds at Flemington.
Chief executive Neil Wilson has revealed scenarios for a “large crowd format” could be executed within eight weeks of Derby Day on October 31.
Flemington hosted 276,186 people across the four-day carnival last year. The Cup drew a crowd of 81,408 — the lowest since Doriemus won in 1995.
“There will be shorter lead times and that will obviously have an impact on what we do in the first week of November but we’ve still got time,” Wilson said.
“The next six weeks and how we come out of that will guide us to the scenarios not possible — 100,000 people on Cup Day is probably looking less likely but we can still have a very substantial crowd if we’re able to come out of (lockdown).
“We’ll be guided by the state government and calibrate our on-course expectations accordingly.”
A crowd-free Cup Carnival has not spooked the VRC either, citing the success of the Royal Ascot Carnival last month, which was contested behind closed doors.
A “heightened” digital and broadcast experience, including Gogglebox-type fan cams and greater access of behindthe-scenes horse areas, such as the pre-parade ring, are part of an “optimistic nirvana”.
“The whole of Australia celebrates the Melbourne Cup (and) how do we bring that to life a lot more? It’s something we can get on with,” Wilson said.
“The Melbourne Cup is the ‘People’s Cup’ and we want to make sure we don’t lose sight of the community and having them involved.
“In a scenario, for example, if there were 15,000 people we could make that look very good in terms of the broadcast.
“Our best outcome is as many people as we can have, close to what we’ve had before, plus the broadcast being better than it might’ve been.”
But Wilson rejected claims the club was putting pressure on the state government to forecast COVID-19 restrictions.
“Any suggestions of us laying that down as a demand is just ridiculous,” he said. “We’re working with them and we’re completely respectful of the most important thing, the health of the population.”
Under normal circumstances, the layout and construction of temporary bars and marquees starts in July.
“We’re building scenarios and one will pop out once we know where we’re at, and we’re trying to make the leadup for any of the scenarios as close to the week as we can,” Wilson said.
A balance of racehorse owners, VRC members and sponsors will be at the top of the queue for Cup Carnival tickets, should crowd restrictions ease.