Far away from Flemington Racecourse, it wasn't the frocks, but the crocs, which saw the punters gather in their hundreds. A lively tavern in the territory's Top End fired up today for a unique way of celebrating the Melbourne Cup.
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00:00 Hats on, but gloves off. These punters ready for race day, like nowhere else in Australia.
00:07 Why would you be in Melbourne, frazing your arse off when you can sit here and have a cold beer?
00:12 I only bet twice a year, Darwin Cup, Melbourne Cup, so I've lost me $40.
00:18 The obscurity of it, the novelty, yeah, something different that we've never seen.
00:25 At the Springs Tavern, 40km south of the Territory Capital, the Crocodile Race was on.
00:30 The annual event, now in its eighth year, originally conceived over one too many schooners by the owners of the tavern.
00:36 The idea came after a very drunken night at the front of the pub and we thought, what can we do to make Melbourne Cup a bit more exciting?
00:44 Oh look, it was I think a few beverages too many and we thought it might be a bit of a good idea just to do something different and unique to the Territory.
00:54 Crocs!
00:55 Six crocs from across the Toppen were brought in to take on the 28m race course, with only one rule, no death rolls.
01:03 These salties have been supplied for Cup Day by a Darwin Wildlife Park, with handlers at the ready to make sure that the croc safety is paramount.
01:12 We've got the van which is all air conditioned so if they do get a bit hot they can go in there and if they do notice they're getting a bit stressed out, we've got the two tubs they can go in a nice dark safe place.
01:23 Like most sporting events, there is stringent testing to prevent the crocs from using performance enhancing drugs.
01:28 Drugs is an absolute scourge in sport at the moment so these animals are drug tested well in advance for drugs and alcohol.
01:34 In true Territory style, the race is run just for bragging rights, but for the winning croc, it's back to the chomping ground to train for next year.
01:42 - G.
01:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]