For most of us the Melbourne Cup is the race that stops the nation. Those who can dress up and make their way to Flemington Race Course to be seen, enjoy the atmosphere and have a flutter on the racing. For Andrew Georgiou cup day is a very different experience as it is the busiest day of his calendar. So he is up early and paying attention to every detail to ensure the day goes without a hitch.
As TAB’s (Totalisator Agency Board) Public Relations and Media manager Georgiou enjoys the Melbourne Cup in a completely different way to your average punter.
“This is my 11th Melbourne Cup and while it is the busiest day of my year, it is still thoroughly enjoyable, especially if you have a love of racing,” Georgiou told Neos Kosmos.
“My task first thing in the morning is to see where the overnight money has gone, keep an eye of the big bets, what the forecasts are saying, which are the popular horses and what are the betting trends.”
It is a flow of information that he has to keep on top off during the big day. Under normal circumstances he would also have media commitments to take care of during the day, but this year, he will be monitoring events from Sydney and coordinating with his team in Melbourne and other parts of Australia.
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“I look to media requirements and also to our stakeholders. Being a big organisation there are a number of departments that need information.
“The Melbourne Cup is the biggest race in the country with the greatest turnover because it is the one day when even people who normally don’t like to bet will take a punt. Half the nation is involved.
Melbourne Cup Day is also a day when more than half the nation will take a punt.
“On Cup day our systems have to hold up well and it has never been an issue,” Georgiou said.
“When I first started, I was working at a big race after switching to a new system that went down on the day. I was the only one who was working the media, fielding questions from the bosses and clientele and trying to figure out what the IT guys were doing.”
It was an experience that he has made sure will not be repeated.
“Technology is a great help but it has caused problems when it does not work.”
Georgiou’s first memories of the Melbourne Cup were as a child with his grandfather, Andreas, who liked to keep an eye on the racing.
“He came from a small village in Cyprus to Australia in the 1950s. He was taken by friends to a horse race and he had never seen anything like it before.
“Once he discovered thoroughbred racing, he would study the newspaper at home, write out his bets and then go to the betting shop and place his bets. He would listen on the radio at home” Georgiou fondly recalled.
His father, George, took up the passion and also took up the same routines despite the rise of new technologies that were changing the face of racing.
“I grew up with Pappou at the radio. For him it was not just the thrill of winning. He had come to a new country, met people who went to the races and he hung out with them. It was part of the social life of the time and, from my perspective, many Greeks and Cypriots would have similar stories to tell,” Georgiou said.
“With all the betting shops re-opening (following the lifting of COVID restrictions) you see many people from different (migrant communities) there. It is place to pass the day together.”
The younger generation tended to treat racing differently and will usually go only to the big meetings like the Melbourne Cup.
He said much of the romance of the Melbourne Cup was due to the horse Phar Lap in the 1930s.
“Even as a kid you learnt about Phar Lap. The horse was shining light for people (in the years of the Great Depression) because they knew that if they put a bet on Phar Lap they would get something back.”
Georgiou said he owed his start in racing journalism to 1999, to Peter V’landys, the boss of Racing New South Wales and chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission. Georgiou joined TAB in 2011.
Over the years has owned a number of harness horses, greyhounds and gallopers over the years. He is also a member of a a Hellenic syndicate that is unofficially titled the Greek-Australian Greyhound Association or GAGA.
“It is more a fun thing. You have to go into horse racing knowing the chances of getting your money back are small. It is more of a social gathering for families and friends who share a passion,” Georgiou said.
His tip for the Melbourne Cup: Incentivise, a short-price favourite that he says will run a good 3,200m race.
“Only a special horse will beat him,” Georgiou said.