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How do you make the 'Drink of the Kentucky Derby'?
Tight finish in what was considered a wide open race
24 horses raced for a top price of $2.75 million
CNN
—
Almandin has narrowly defeated Heartbreak City to win the 2016 Melbourne Cup.
It’s the second Cup win for jockey Kerrin McEvoy who rode Brew to victory 16 years ago in the 2000 race.
“I’m very lucky privileged to have won a second cup and great to do it in the colors for Mr Williams and his family,” McEvoy said moments after the race, referencing Lloyd Williams, who now holds the record with five Cup winners.
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s richest and most famous race. For a few minutes on the first Tuesday of every November, the nation is transfixed as a field of international and local talent compete for the A$3.6 million (US$2.75 million) prize.
The last moments of the two mile (3,200 meter) race ratcheted up the tension as Almandin and Heartbreak City engaged in a sprint along the final 300 meters.
This year’s field was considered wide open. Favorite British gelding Hartnell came third, while the other horses attracting pre-race money, Oceanographer and Australian mare Jameka, finished in the middle of the pack.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tweeted his congratulations and revealed that he’d won the office sweep.
Millions of Australians stop to watch the race, which is the highlight of the four-day Spring Carnival at Flemington Racecourse.
Last year, jockey Michelle Payne made history as the first woman to win the race on 100-1 outsider Prince of Penzance. This year’s only female jockey, 22-year-old Katelyn Mallyon, finished in 19th place in the field of 24 on six-year-old Irish gelding Assign.
When Payne won she lambasted the “chauvinists” in the racing world who didn’t believe a woman could do it. “Get stuffed,” she famously said in post-match interviews.
Michelle Payne rocked the world of racing by becoming the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse.
Michael Dodge/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
The Melbourne Cup is known as the "race that stops a nation" such is the interest in the event. It's not just the cup that stops Australia -- it's high stakes in the fashion world too.
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images for the VRC
The Melbourne Cup was given its own entrance parade ahead of the race.
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Australian beauty pageant titleholder and television reporter.Rachael Finch poses at the Myer Marquee on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
The celebrities were out in force with Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian tennis player, just one famous face at the racecourse.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Of course, hats aren't just for women. Here designer Phillip Rhodes poses on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 3, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia.
Zak Kaczmarek/Getty Images for the VRC
There were 24 horses competing for a chance at sporting immortality.
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Just the fourth woman to compete in the race in its 155-year history, Payne rode New Zealand-bred Prince of Penzance to victory.
Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Prince of Penzance cost $36,000 but came up trumps to win the $2.6 million top prize.
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Payne was mobbed by adoring fans after her surprise triumph.
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Payne, one of 10 kids, celebrated the victory with her family.
Michael Dodge/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Payne celebrated her triumph with brother Stevie, who has Down syndrome. Stevie works as her strapper.
Michael Dodge/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
DJ Nussy was on the decks as she entertained the crowds at Flemington.
Wayne Taylor/Getty Images AsiaPac
Singer Craig David was also on hand to entertain the Flemington masses.
Wayne Taylor/Getty Images AsiaPac
Supported by cello and violins, singer Nathaniel also performed at the racecourse.
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images AsiaPac
There was a huge crowd at Flemington to witness Payne's landmark win.
Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Mobiles were very much at the ready to capture events both on and off the track.
At the end of a long hard day's horse racing seagulls gather at Flemington to see what might be on the menu.
Michael Dodge/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
With all eyes glued on events at Flemington, there wasn't a soul to be seen studying at the Australian National University's Law Library in Canberra.
Louisa Yasukawa
Melbourne Cup 2015: How Michelle Payne stopped a nation
The Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861. It attracts more than 310,000 fans to Flemington Racecourse and millions more watch on TV – and now online. For the first time, the event was livestreamed on Twitter.
The day of the Melbourne Cup is a public holiday in the state of Victoria so residents can watch the race.
Every year, the race attracts calls for an end to animal cruelty amid claims the horses are being pushed ever harder to win the title.
