It's worth $187,000, weighs about 4kg and is 18-carat gold and only winners get to touch it.
For anyone else getting close and personal with the 2014 Melbourne Cup, you need gloves.
The trophy, which in November will be presented to the winner of the Melbourne Cup, arrived in Wairarapa on Saturday as part of its annual promotional tour across New Zealand and Australia.
The Wairarapa Racing Club tendered to the Victoria Racing Club for the cup's visit, hoping the synergy of both clubs celebrating 150 years this year would win over the tour organisers.
The club's hierarchy enjoyed an hour with the cup in a media event on Saturday morning at the racecourse, joined by South Wairarapa mayor Adrienne Staples and Trust House marketing manager Nikki Burns, before a two-hour public session, with children's activities, at Anzac Hall in Featherston.