Racing: Unique chance to live past cup glories

Yana Chaplow (left), Tracey Andersen and Vaya Chaplow get up close and personal with the 2016 and 1916 Melbourne Cups on Saturday.

Racing fans in Hawke's Bay experienced the magic of the Emirates Melbourne Cup when it rode into town last weekend as part of its annual Tour of Australasia.

Hawke's Bay Racing, who arranged several community activities to celebrate the cup's arrival, welcomed the solid 18-carat gold trophy worth NZ$183,000.

Its general manager, Andrew Castles, said they were thrilled to be a part of this year's tour.

"The highlight for me was seeing the 1916 and 2016 Melbourne Cups side by side at the Sasanof Homestead," Castles said.

"Everyone got behind the cup's visit and it was great to see so many people from the community come down to Club Hastings and Turks Bar to have their photo with the cup," he said.

Cup tour ambassador and veteran race caller Bryan Martin of Melbourne joined in the celebrations, which included events throughout the region.

Retired jockey John Thomas Anderson, dubbed "The Cup King" for a rash of victories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, also met Martin at the Mary Doyle Retirement Village in Havelock North where he lives.

The 84-year-old, who three times in his life watched the marquee meeting in Flemington in his heyday, never had the opportunity to be there as a rider but thoroughly enjoyed holding the cup on Saturday.

The tour will continue around Australia and New Zealand before returning to Flemington on Tuesday, November 1, for the "race that stops two nations".

The reunion at Sasanof Lodge will be emulated on November 1 at the Victoria Racing Club.

The late Wilfred Gatonby Stead, born in Christchurch but who lived in Flaxmere, owned Bay horse Sasanof, the 3-year-old brown gelding who became only the second Kiwi horse to win the Melbourne Cup before 1916.

Stead is the grandfather of Ann Bary, the mother of Hastings trainer John Bary. The Bary family also will be in Melbourne for the big reunion.