KEY POINTS:
Banks of grey cloud are hanging over Flemington racecourse today as crowds stream into the biggest date on the Australasian racing calendar.
Despite the weather, forecasters say the Melbourne Cup race (5pm NZT) should be run in sunshine as they expect the clouds to clear.
Victoria Derby winner Efficient is out of today's Melbourne Cup with a knee injury but favourite Tawqeet has passed a veterinary test and is set to take his place in the field.
Melbourne Cup Day is by far the busiest day on the Australasian racing calendar, with more than 100,000 people anticipated trackside and millions more expected to watch the race on television.
The TAB is preparing for what could be its biggest day ever as hundreds of thousands of punters place their bets around the nation.
Victorian bookmakers expect more than A$20 million ($23million) to change hands at the track.
The Melbourne Cup crowd record of 122,736 was set in 2003 and Victoria Racing Club (VRC) spokesman Stephen Silk expects another bumper crowd today.
"We're expecting between 100,000 and 110,000," Mr Silk says.
The Flemington racecourse can hold 135,000.
Whatever the number, there will be food and drink to spare, with 800kg of smoked salmon ordered, along with two tonnes of beef, 50,000 sandwiches and 40,000 party pies.
Punters will wash this down with 165,000 cans of beer, 50,000 bottles of Fleur de Lys sparkling wine and 1,000 bottles of Moet champagne in the members' area.
>> Owners take Efficient scratching on chin
A rueful Lloyd Williams, owner of Efficient, said the horse had shown signs of soreness in his knee after a 400-metre workout earlier today so was pulled from the race.
"He ran up over two furlongs this morning and when he cooled down he was sore in his knee," Williams told Melbourne radio 927.
"It is a great disappointment, I thought we were going to be part of history."
Efficient was aiming to become the first three-year-old since Skipton in 1941 to claim the Derby-Cup double.
Williams still has two runners, Activation and Zipping, in the Cup.
The David Hayes-trained favourite Tawqeet was inspected by vets this morning after pulling a shoe off yesterday afternoon, raising concerns he may have injured his hoof.
Chief steward Des Gleeson said Tawqeet had trotted up in front of Racing Victoria chief vet John McCaffery.
"He showed no signs of soreness and we will have another look at him before the race but at the moment he is fine," Gleeson says.
- AAP
