den racecourse with 15,000 rose bushes
primed to bloom in Cup week. The track
is barely three miles from the city centre.
The quickest way to get there is by rail.
Trains deliver passengers into the heart
of the course, bypassing traffic jams on
roads nearby.
Flemington dates back to 1840, just five
years after the settlement of Melbourne,
Australia's southernmost mainland city,
on Port Phillip Bay. The secret of its in-
stant success lies in the gold rushes of
the 'fifties, on the heels of California.
Melbourne town became a boom city. The
two-mile race inaugurated in 1861 was
rich. It attracted the best horses from the
other Australian colonies, and big betting.
As a handicap rather than a championship,
the element of surprise was stronger.
The racetrack itself was an attraction.
