Why is it that crossing the Murray River turns normal sane, rational people into possessive, insular and territorial characters? Suddenly, with nine "international raiders" vying for a start in the Melbourne Cup, the locals down south - punters and racing folk alike - are crying foul.
For what? Exclusive access to the $5.65 million prizemoney? Undivided attention from the 130,000 Flemington racecourse crowd, most of whom won't actually see the race anyway? A better chance of winning?
For some inexplicable reason, Victorians have embraced the Melbourne Cup like they do their AFL footy and made their feelings known: none of these foreigners are welcome.
Earlier this week, a colleague from Melbourne made the bold statement that the interest in this year's Cup was waning - his words not mine - because of the overseas horses. He says the local "connectedness" and the history of the race, being very much Melbourne-centric, is being diluted, to its detriment.
I think he forgot that some of the horses most associated with the race, especially in the early years, came from Sydney and the great Sydney trainer Bart Cummings has won 11 of the cups with his horses.
Up here in NSW, my exclusive straw poll of punters at the Brumby Bar in Jindabyne, the Beach Road Hotel at Bondi Beach and the office at Pyrmont can reveal the impact of the international horses on the interest in the race is zero. Sara, Jess and Jordanna will still back the greys, lucky No.5 or the horses with pretty names; Brucie will consider the internationals in his astute betting "but only if they have an Australian jockey, because the international jockeys get lost in the race". Brad will controversially back every horse that Irish trainer Dermot Weld brings out, "because they can run the distance but it is the unknown that often gets up, usually the stablemate".
No one mentioned they weren't interested in the race because Irish, English, American and Kiwi horses were involved. Indeed, who of you knew, before the race was run in 2006, that Delta Blues and Pop Rock were Japanese horses? Vintage Crop was the first international horse to win the race back in 1993 (although Let's Elope, which won in 1991, was bred overseas) and ever since there has been a desire by international connections to conquer the Cup.
And why shouldn't they? The swish racing in-crowd, wearing their designer dresses, useless stilettos that sink in the mud and hats that spear and spike, are quite happy to drink imported French champagne, imported bottle water and swan between global brand marquees without a patriotic thought. And the last time I looked, Emirates, the race's major sponsor, wasn't an airline born in the backblocks of the dusty Queensland outback either. Yet its privileged guests in its lavish tent will enjoy the best of everything.
So what are those Victorians complaining about? The great Irish horse Septimus is race favourite and will be backed by hundreds of thousands. All the Good, another Irish four-legged star, has already claimed the Caulfield Cup, just ahead of the Kiwi stayer Nom Du Jeu. Earlier this week, another Irish horse, Bauer, won the Geelong Cup.
The international horses come to Melbourne because of the prizemoney that filters down through the field, basically paying for the costs of the travel for horses finishing midfield. The commitment to send horses here was made months ago when the dollar was much higher, but the desire is still there.
The Melbourne Cup stops a nation but its prestige is growing so wildly that in other parts of the world it stops boardrooms (when Media Puzzle won in 2002, owner Tony Smurfit was in Paris presiding over budget meetings for his paper packaging company). And what's wrong with that?
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)
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