Which equine event would you like to head to - the one that promises the most exciting two minutes in sports in the US or the one that stops the nation on our own shores? Our experts help you decide.
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KENTUCKY DERBY
By Mal Chenu
"The race that stops a nation" versus "The most exciting two minutes in sports". The first Tuesday in November versus the first Saturday in May. Flemington versus Churchill Downs. Phar Lap versus Secretariat. VB versus mint juleps. And we're off!
To the uninitiated, these two great horse racing events may seem like an each-way bet: Supreme equine athletes. Enormous crowds. Lots of drinks. Toilet queues. Every year 100,000 punters cram into Flemington and we've all either been there or know someone who has. Yawn. On the other hoof, you could be a globetrotter and head to Churchill Downs in Louisville and earn unbridled nag-ging rights.
The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing for three-year-olds. It has a "colt" following. And next year sees the 150th running of the classic in the city decorated with stunning white and pink dogwood and redbud flowers.
The occasion is simply called "Derby". Doing Derby decorously means arriving two weeks before the race. While "The Run for the Roses" (a blanket of 554 red roses goes to the victor) lasts barely two minutes, the Kentucky Derby Festival offers more than 70 events leading up to Derby weekend, kicking off with the Thunder Over Louisville airshow and fireworks display, America's biggest annual pyrotechnics party.
Apres Thunder comes balls, galas, outdoor concerts, food festivals, parades, a marathon and that oh-so-American c-u-r-i-o-s-i-ty, a spelling bee. Then there's The Great Balloon Race, The Great Steamboat Race and The Great Bed Race. It's all just Great.
Everyone's involved. Last year I saw a Sydney garbo wearing a fascinator as he emptied the yellow bins ready for the day's bottle avalanche.
The whole city does Derby and some Downtown Louisville hotels even have milliners set up in the lobby so you don't have to pack your own fascinator.
On race day the famous twin-spired grandstands fill quickly and the "Millionaire's Row" box seats are occupied by the well-heeled, well-dressed and well-connected. They shoehorn patrons into the infield too and this is where the serious partying (drinking) happens. The bugler plays Call to the Post and the University of Louisville Cardinal Marching Band belts out My Old Kentucky Home. And then 150,000 spectators scream themselves hoarse, especially as the gee-gees round the third turn.
Mint juleps are also an important part of the occasion. This sublime concoction of bourbon, mint and sugar syrup should, for full cultural immersion, be sipped while dressed in an all-white seersucker suit or as a Southern belle with designer ringlets and a twirling parasol.
Louisville parties on after the races and the arty 21c Museum Hotel's decadent "Derby After Dusk" is legendary, with its double-size gold replica of Michelangelo's David plus music, cocktails and, of course, hors d'ourves.
MELBOURNE CUP
By Amy Cooper
Two southern cities, two epic races. It's horses for courses, but if you'd rather gallop across the globe just for a mint julep that you'll find more masterfully mixed in Melbourne's world-famous bars, do trot off.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are on the home straight to our very own deep south - although you can enjoy the revelry anywhere around the country, because our biggest bacchanalian bonanza radiates out from Flemington nationwide like a hoofed and hatted champagne supernova.
Everyone's involved. Last year I saw a Sydney garbo wearing a fascinator as he emptied the yellow bins ready for the day's bottle avalanche.
The race that stops the nation confirms beyond all doubt Australia's supremacy at squeezing every drop of fun from the calendar. While most major races - including the Kentucky Derby - run on Saturdays, our Tuesday headliner bestows a public holiday in Victoria and an unofficial midweek boozy bludge for everyone else. Genius.
The Cup's just one of 37 races in Flemington's week-long carnival and, this year, the festivities in a city defined by food, fashion and culture are in finer form than ever.
In the gilded Birdcage, the real money's on who romps home in the decadence race, and with the 2023 "unbridled" theme, all bets are off.
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Homegrown Curtis Stone is a clear favourite in a strong international field; the celeb chef has imported his entire Michelin-starred Hollywood restaurant Gwen trackside. Coming up on the inside there's foreign raider Florian Barbarot, a French master direct from Reims, staging his gastronomic La Table des Chefs in the GH Mumm marquee.
You don't have to be posh to party at Flemington. There's also Palooza, a trackside music festival under an all-weather dome with non-stop headline acts, and a rainbow of Melbourne's finest food flavours, from bao to bratwurst to Brazilian tapas. Kentucky fried chicken? Neigh, we'd rather Melbourne Cup's finger-lickin' fave, MFC: Mr Miyagi Fried Chicken from the acclaimed Chapel Street Japanese.
In the city itself there's an endless menu of dazzling dining, from culinary thoroughbreds Attica, Stokehouse and Flower Drum to star youngsters like Filipino-Aussie award-winner Serai.
Despite the sartorial shocker of this year's decision to allow men in shorts into the members' areas, the Cup is still Australia's best fashion-fest.
And for celebrity sightings, it's traditionally Melbourne's very own pre-Christmas carol, with cricketers quaffing, presenters prancing, gangsters gambling, footballers fighting, two Parises (Hilton and Jackson) posing and a plastered politician underneath a tree. Odds on, you won't find a better photo finish.
