Melbourne Cup—the annual horse race lasting no more than a few minutes is an undoubtable excuse for fun, debauchery and midweek hangovers. We are here to help keep the event classy, make your day a delight and help you pick the winner (not really, sorry about that).

CASH ONLY

ATM usage soars on Melbourne Cup Day. Data from the Commonwealth Bank shows a steep increase of ATM usage from 9am, reaching its peak around midday, dropping off dramatically for a six minute period when the race is on and then soaring again (Business Insider, 2017). Lesson: Have your cash ready – bookies don’t wait, nor do resuscitory kebabs.

HAVE YOUR RIDE READY

Deciding between Taxi, Uber or your Mum – choose your Mum! 12pm and 7pm are the high times, with demand up 65% and 52% respectively from the same day the previous week (Business Insider, 2017). Lesson: Take public transport, although there is a risk you could miss the entire race this way.

AFTER PARTY?

All that afternoon fun at Melbourne Cup and you’ve probably worked up an appetite. Plan ahead: restaurants tend to book out and bars will be chockablock. Work out whereto next, well in advance. Lesson: Call it a night, go home early, your day has already probably peaked.

TO SUNGLASSES OR NOT TO SUNGLASSES?

Can ruin an otherwise fabulous outfit BUT can make an otherwise mediocre ensemble very cool. Lesson: It’s fun drinking while wearing sunglasses.

AEDT vs AEST: the real competition of the day

The race starts an hour early in the Sunshine State, so does this mean we get to knock-off an hour early too? I think this may be the best argument yet for not putting our clocks ahead. Well done Queensland! Lesson: Daylight Saving would indeed fade the curtains.

For more excellent tips, perhaps more relevant to your business, talk to a Hunt&Hawk specialist – we work we hard, we play hard.