Hosted by popular Australian television journalist Gorgi Coghlan, the documentary will tell the story of the People’s Cup and how the coveted trophy touches communities around Australia every year as part of the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour.
The series will comprise of two 30 minute episodes which will air on Network 10 on Sunday 24th October and Sunday 31st October and also be available to stream on 10 Play.
The documentary follows the 2021 Lexus Melbourne Cup trophy’s journey to a number of destinations featured in this year’s tour, including Cairns in Far North Queensland and Apollo Bay, Nagambie and Kerang in Victoria.
The series will also contain interviews with a number of iconic racing identities including Lexus Melbourne Cup winning jockeys Craig Williams and Jye McNeil and four-time Melbourne Cup-winning owner Nick Williams.
This year is the 19th year of the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour, which has seen the iconic trophy travel more than 750,000 kilometres and visit more than 530 regional, rural and metropolitan destinations, providing communities with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the magic of the Lexus Melbourne Cup.
In 2019 the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) also introduced the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour National Sweep as part of the tour, which sees 24 rural and regional Cup Tour destinations across Australia the opportunity to be allocated a barrier for the Lexus Melbourne Cup.
The town which draws the barrier of the Cup-winning horse will be presented with a cash prize of $50,000 to put towards a nominated charity for a local community initiative. The bushfire-ravaged community of Kangaroo Island in South Australia took home the $50,000 donation last year for the Royal Flying Doctors, after Twilight Payment led from start to finish to win the 160th Lexus Melbourne Cup.
Victoria Racing Club (VRC) Chairman Neil Wilson said the club was very pleased to be sharing the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour story with all Australians.
“Since the tour first began in 2003, the VRC have delighted in bringing communities together in the shared history and magic of the People’s Cup,” Mr Wilson said.
“In a year like no other we are pleased to unite the nation yet again via this exclusive documentary, live and free on Network 10.”
The People’s Cup will air at 2:00PM on Sunday 24th October and Sunday 31st October and also be available on 10 Play. Both episodes will also be broadcast on 10 Bold from 9AM on Lexus Melbourne Cup Day, Tuesday 2nd November.
Network 10 is the exclusive broadcast partner of the 2021 Melbourne Cup Carnival with all races live and free on 10 and streamed on 10 Play.
For further information about the 2021 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour please click here.
