Trentham and Lancefield will play host to the $750,000 18-carat-gold Melbourne Cup trophy as part of the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour.
The 22nd edition of the annual tour will visit Trentham on Wednesday October 16 and Lancefield on Thursday October 17.
Olympic basketballer Chris Anstey successfully applied to have the cup visit Trentham where he recently reopened the revamped Hotel Trentham.
“We bought the pub last July, after spending a few months here getting to know the locals,” Anstey said. “It had shut down during Covid.”
“It sits in the middle of a historic street, and the street had lost its heartbeat a bit, so we wanted to give it its heart back. It’s a pub for the locals, nothing too fancy.
“We also wanted to bring some unique events and experiences to the town. Being a fan of racing and having owned racehorses historically, we wanted the opportunity to bring the tour here.”
The plan includes a classic country parade down the main street.
At Lancefield the next day, St Mary’s Primary School is planning a range of community events.
Community liaison leader at St Mary’s, Jo Shannon, said Lancefield had a strong horse and riding community and the school looked forward to celebrating that in October when the cup tour visited.
“The students of St Mary’s Primary School are particularly excited about having such a prestigious event and the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup attend their little regional school,” Ms Shannon said.
Trentham and Lancefield will also be part of the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour National Sweep, which will see 24 rural and regional Cup Tour destinations across Australia be allocated a barrier for the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup.
Representatives from each of the 24 destinations will be flown to Melbourne to watch the Lexus Melbourne Cup live on track at Flemington Racecourse and the town that draws the barrier of the winning horse will be presented with a cash prize of $50,000 to put towards a charity of their choice.
This year’s tour began its journey on Friday May 31, kicking off in Tokyo.
