Sponsor boost for Melbourne Cup

LUXURY car brand Lexus will today be announced as just the fourth major sponsor in the 158-year history of the Melbourne Cup in a deal set to boost prizemoney for the race that stops a nation.

In one of the biggest deals in Australian sport, a five-year partnership for naming rights of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, parade and national tour will be announced with fanfare at Flemington.

Victoria Racing Club chair woman Amanda Elliott said the deal would add a new dimension to the famous race and bolster prizemoney to fend off Sydney’s $13 million The Everest showpiece.

“Anything that partners the Melbourne Cup is of huge importance to us,” Ms Elliott said.

“This is only the fourth partner we’ve had in a very long time and each one of those partners has been tremendous.”

The deal coincides with Lexus moving its Australian headquarters from Sydney to Melbourne last month, creating 35 jobs at its Port Melbourne base.

Lexus will replace Emirates as major sponsor, ending a principal partnership with the airline stretching back to 2004.

The Emirates deal was believed to have been worth about $5 million a year and while Lexus and the VRC declined to say how much the new partnership was worth, it is believed to be even richer.

“It was very competitive, we weren’t short of admirers, put it that way,” Ms Elliott said.

The Everest, had a $10 million purse in its first year, will rise $3 million this year, with Racing NSW boasting its race was worth twice as much as the Melbourne Cup.