With just 97 days left until the 2010 Melbourne Cup is run at Flemington, the Victorian Racing Club steps up the celebrations this week to mark the 150^th anniversary of the ‘race that stops a nation’.

On Wednesday a fictional Melbourne Cup field of the finest horses in history, selected by the VRC’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter, will be revealed called the Greatest Cup Never Run.

The unique Melbourne Cup field will feature 24 of the most legendary gallopers and is part of the official launch of the book The Story of the Melbourne Cup: Australia’s Greatest Race, commemorating 150 years of the world’s richest handicap.

The book launches on Wednesday July 28 at the Melbourne Museum and will be followed by an exciting series of other Melbourne Cup celebrations leading up to the big event.

Other events not to miss include the Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Awards on August 8, the Flemington Spring Fashion Lunch on September 2 and the Australian Racehorse of the Year Awards, where Peter Moody’s classy mare Typhoon Tracy is set to take the prize.

The 2010 Melbourne Cup will run as Race 7 at Flemington on Tuesday November 2 as the centrepiece of the annual Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

Worth a record $6 million in prizemoney and trophies this year, the Melbourne Cup pre-nomination betting markets at SportingBet are already heating up.

Early favourites to become the 2010 Melbourne Cup winner include Crown Oaks winner Faint Perfume, lightly raced gelding Linton and the 2009 Melbourne Cup winner Shocking.

Check out the generous early odds available on these Melbourne Cup hopefuls and many more at SportingBet today.

As part of the esteemed spring racing programme, Victoria’s famed Flemington racecourse will be home to a four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival featuring a quadrella of the best race meetings in Australia: Victoria Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Crown Oaks Day and Emirates Stakes Day running from Saturday October 30 until November 6.

Throughout the entire Spring Carnival we will be the first to publish the latest feature race previews, betting odds from [sportsbet] and race results so make sure you keep us on your radar.

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