On the road ... a winner and her cup

Wendy Green. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Melbourne Cup-winning owner Wendy Green is in Auckland to promote Australia's best-known horse race, two months away on November 6.

Carrying the 18-carat gold cup Rogan Josh won in 1999, the former Darwin schoolteacher - affectionately dubbed "Wendy in Wonderland" - is just under halfway through Victoria Racing Club's annual tour, which takes the $175,000 trophy to 25 towns and cities over three months.

Mrs Green, who enlisted the help of legendary trainer Bart Cummings for her cup bid, sealed herself a spot in Australian folklore by travelling south from Darwin with her husband in the couple's Holden to watch her horse finish first at Flemington in 1999.