The long-time Stanhope resident noticed an advertisement inviting applications from towns to be part of the event, which started on July 19 at Tullibigeal in NSW.
With the support of Glenda Cowie, Brett Ould, Christine Dicketts and the Stanhope Business Centre team, the application was submitted — based on the fact that Stanhope was a dairy farming town with the largest cheese plant in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Stanhope is known for its clubs and groups. We have a club for everything, from the men’s shed to the bowls club and the fire brigade to the senior citizens.
“We wanted the volunteer element to be a focus of our application,” Mr Crichton said.
The submission was successful and the group swung into action organising a program of events which will run from 9.30am until late on the evening of Friday, October 14.
“We are taking the cup to a dairy farm (the Emmett family’s Shenstone Jersey Stud) to kick off the tour. It is a fourth generation Jersey farm and is the closest farm to the town,” Mr Crichton said.
Fittingly, Stanhope Football Club captain Craig Emmett and his parents own the property.
Following that launch, the cup will spend half an hour at the men’s shed, continue on to the bowls and tennis clubs, then stop at the fire brigade before a 12.10pm parade in Birdwood Ave.
School and kindergarten children will be dressed in Melbourne Cup jockey colours for the event and women are invited to wear fascinators to celebrate the cup’s visit.
A picnic lunch will follow in McEwen Place from 12.30pm before the cup visits the senior citizens club and then spends an hour from 2.40pm at the football and cricket clubs.
The grand finale of the event will be a cocktail party at the historic Robgill Homestead at 5.30pm.
Robgill Homestead is one of several built by Stanhope’s founding family, the Winter-Irvings — who themselves had a strong hand in horse racing.
The Winter-Irving family built four homesteads for their children and have a strong link to Stanhope’s history.
They owned VRC Oaks winner Scarlet, which won the 3200 metre Sydney Cup in 1924 at 33-1.
The cup tour will include a stop at Echuca-Moama (September 30), but Yea is the nearest location to Stanhope for people to see the cup on tour.
“We have it for the whole day. This is one of the few country towns where it is spending a whole day,” Mr Crichton said
The cup is visiting almost every Australian state, along with New Zealand and Singapore.
Stanhope’s organising committee attended the June launch of the tour at Flemington Racecourse.
