Growing disdain for gambling and animal cruelty concerns drive sliding interest in race that once ‘stopped the nation’

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A record number of Australians are turning their backs on the Melbourne Cup, with more than two-thirds surveyed saying they have low or zero interest in the annual horse race.

Support for the Melbourne Cup has been sliding consistently for a number of years, but the Guardian Essential poll found just 9% of Australians said they had high interest in the race now – nearly half the proportion in 2025.