'Diva fever' brings Australia to a cup frenzy
The Makybe Diva camp is all smiles, on the surface at least, as the greatest stakes-winning mare in the long history of racing Down Under, eyes a record third Melbourne Cup at Flemington this afternoon.
After a week of will-she-won't- she stories, trainer Lee Freedman playing a Geoffrey Boycott straight bat at every question bowled at him, the great mare has made the Melbourne Cup and now dominates the liquid betting market.
It looks like a dream come true for the Victoria Racing Club as the race billed as the 'two-mile championship of the world' comes alive once again with a replay of last year's epic north-south encounter between Australia's Makybe Diva and Ireland's Vinnie Roe.
Australian bookmakers are bracing themselves for one of the biggest-ever betting moves as Diva Fever sweeps the island continent.
Australians have been obsessed with the Melbourne Cup since it was first run in 1861 but this year's race has captured the country's imagination like never before.
Once again, the country will come to a standstill as the race, this year worth a record A$5 million ($29 million), is run. The Australian parliament, due to debate new anti-terrorism laws today, will be suspended during the 31/2 minutes it takes to run the race and the wheels of industry will grind to a halt as millions of ordinary people tune in to watch the annual race.
In a move that would make Hong Kong's anti-gambling lobby break out in carbuncles, even school children will be able to take a break from class and watch the 'race that stops a nation'.
Makybe Diva, owned by the Croatian-born tuna fisherman Tony Santic, is already a racing legend in Australia after her Melbourne Cup wins in 2003 and 2004. Since her last cup, she's gone away and added her country's three biggest weight-for-age races to an incredible trophy cabinet. Her bankroll now exceeds A$11 million.
But a third successive victory in today's 3,200-metre handicap would elevate her to another level of fame altogether. Only five horses have won the cup more than twice and none has come close to winning it three times.
One cup fame, two cups greatness, three cups immortality.
History is heavily stacked against Makybe Diva winning again but no one in Australia seems to mind and she is certain to start today's race as one of the shortest-priced favourites since ... she went around last year as the A$3.50 elect.
'The whole country is going Makybe mad,' Centrebet's Gerrard Daffy said. 'It's unprecedented. It will be like no cup ever before as far as betting goes.'
