Full capacity crowd back at Melbourne Cup after two years

The biggest racing day of the year has arrived.

Thousands are flocking to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup.

Full crowds are starting to gather at Flemington racecourse for the first time since the pandemic.

Crowds were banned from the 2020 edition of the race, while the 2021 Melbourne Cup had a capped capacity of 10,000 people.

The last time Flemington was open to all crowds was in 2019, when 81,458 people came to the track while a crowd of 80,000 is expected today.

Meanwhile the prize pool for the Melbourne Cup is AUD$8.075 million.

This includes AUD$7.75 million in cash and a number of trophies worth a total of AUD$325,000.

The race will start at 4pm today.

Source: abc.net.au