Charley’s hosts the 2008 Melbourne Cup

Horse racing enthusiasts who miss the sport back home will get a chance to see one of the biggest races in the world when Pacific Islands Club hosts the 2008 Melbourne Cup today.

PIC general manager Kieran Daly said widescreen television sets will be placed at Charley’s Cabaret to allow Saipan residents to watch the prestigious race live from Melbourne.

“This may be their first time to watch the Melbourne Cup and we promise to give them a wonderful experience through our various side events during the races,” Daly said.

The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s major annual thoroughbred horse race. It’s the race that stops a nation, as Australians trooped to Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne to see three-year-olds and over race in a distance of 3,200 meters and join the one-day festivities.

The event even had Prince and Princes of Wales Charles and Diana watching the races in 1985.

Melbourne Cup can be compared to the Kentucky Derby in the U.S. and the Royal Ascot in the United Kingdom in terms of the number of people in attendance during the races. The record crowd was 122,736 in 2003.

The Melbourne Cup offers more than AU$3 million to the top finisher and a coveted trophy, which is made of 34 pieces of gold hand beaten over 200 hours. The Cup contains 1.65kg of 18-carat gold valuing the cup at $125,000 dollars.

Daly said one of the side events will be the “Calcutta Sweepstakes,” which will feature lotteries and auctions with half of the proceeds going to a worthy cause.

Daly explained PIC will be selling tickets at an affordable prize. Owners of winning tickets will then get a chance to bid for horses which will compete in the races. The highest bidder will get the rights on the raffled horse and if that horse finishes in the Top 3, the highest bidder wins half of the total bid money.

Daly said there will be more than 10 races during the event and they will brief participants about the horses so they would know where to put their bet.

The PIC general manager is encouraging the public, particularly horse racings fans, to join the event, as the “Calcutta Sweeptakes” will also serve as a fundraiser.

Part of the proceeds of the event will be given to Saipan students who want to continue their education at the Northern Marianas College.

“We already met with some NMC officials and discussed this fundraising activity. We will be meeting them again in the next few months to talk about the selection criteria for students who will earn scholarships through this event,” Daly said.

He added that PIC will be doing the sweepstakes every year to ensure that more Saipan students will get a chance to pursue higher education.

Besides the lotteries and auctions, PIC will also host its own version of Melbourne Cup’s

“Fashions On The Field” on which prizes will be given to best-dressed male and female racegoers, and to the one with the best hat.

Individuals interested to join the fundraiser will only pay an entrance fee of $35, which will cover the cost of lunch buffet.

The event will run from 10:30am to 3:30pm.

For more information, contact PIC Concierge at 234-7976.