Tragic Melbourne Cup deaths threaten one of the world's great races

In 1895, Mark Twain embarked on a world tour to raise money to pay his creditors. Aged 60, he had already travelled extensively – the author initially made his fame as a travelogue writer – but he had never been to Australia, where among his many engagements he went to Flemington to attend the Melbourne Cup.

The race made a mighty impact on Twain, who described it in awed tones in his book Following the Equator. "The Melbourne Cup is the Australasian National Day," Twain wrote. "I can call to mind no specialised annual day, in any country, whose approach fires the whole land with a conflagration of conversation and preparation and anticipation and jubilation. No day save this one; but this one does it."

The Melbourne Cup has been remarkably resilient over the following century and a quarter. While other races that once captivated a country like the Derby have struggled to retain their once enormous relevance, the Melbourne Cup remains a national treasure. In fact, it is indisputably one of the jewels in the global racing crown.