The 2020 Melbourne Cup (known commercially as the 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup) was the 160th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse race. The race, run over , was held on 3 November 2020 at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Flemington Racecourse Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The racecou ...

. The final field for the race was declared on 31 October. The total prize money for the race was A$8 million, the same as the previous year. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the public and horse owners were not able to attend the event. The race was won by

Twilight Payment Twilight Payment (foaled 6 May 2013) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2020 Melbourne Cup. Bred and originally trained by Jim Bolger he did not race until he was three years old but showed promising form over exten ...

, ridden by Jye McNeil and trained by Joseph O'Brien.

Field

Fatalities

Anthony Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

was

euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

after suffering a fractured fetlock, becoming the second horse that had to be euthanized at Flemington in 2020, and the sixth horse to die during the Melbourne Cup since 2013.

References

Notes

{{MelbourneCup Melbourne Cup Melbourne Cup Melbourne Cup 2020s in Melbourne