KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders love the Melbourne Cup almost as much as our cousins across the Tasman do.
Last year, we loved it so much we spent $17.2 million at the TAB on that one race.
It's too early to say how this year's spend will compare. Kelly McAra, of the New Zealand Racing Board, says the majority of bets will be placed today, before the race starts at 5pm.
Boxing Day racing is the next biggest for the TAB.
And the New Zealand Cup and Show Week, which begins on Friday, will also draw the big punters.
Feature races include the $1.2 million NZ Trotting Cup and the $1 million NZ 2000 Guineas.
It is seven years since a New Zealand-trained horse won the Melbourne Cup. That was Ethereal, in 2001, making Sheila Laxon the first woman trainer to win the Cup.
New Zealand's big hope today is Caulfield Cup runner-up and Australian Jockey Cup Derby winner Nom Du Jeu, at third favourite as the Herald went to print last night on $7.50 TAB fixed odds.
The other Kiwi-trained contenders are Boundless and Prize Lady.
