the bean picks a near-winner

we went to the melbourne cup this year (6 november, tues) - our first time - and thankfully were ensconced in a very nice corporate marquee right in front of the winning post. naturally, the bean came with us. we wouldn't have left her with a babysitter either in sydney or melbourne.

we saw very few children at flemington that day. i spotted a young girl around 10-11 years old (maybe a bit older?) and there was a very young toddler (younger than the bean) in a pram. and that was about it, but i don't know if there were more in the public stands or other enclosures.

i was a little apprehensive about what sort of food would be suitable for the bean at flemington and if there would be a convenient and clean area to feed or change her.

in the end, the servers in the marquee arranged for french fries to be brought out to the bean and also some chicken pies. we avoided the fancy canapes as much as possible but i tried the bean on a fish roe, which she loved. for naps, we brought along our foldable stroller and that's where she spent about a half hour in during her midday sleep.

she was really a very good little toddler for most of the day; happy to play with the gravel and sand outside the marquee near the flowerbeds and to spin around on the grass lawns. she also liked to pick up the wood chips and earth inside the large flower pots. i don't know why small children are so attracted to dirt.

there was a fountain in the enclosure which captivated the bean. she would stand on the rim of the fountain's little pond and kept repeating, "bye!" at it - heaven knows why. the fountain had lion heads decorated around it spouting water and the bean would point and roar in recognition.

most importantly, the bean helped us where it counted most - the bets. daddy unfolded the newspaper, showing her the section featuring all the jockey colours (and patterns) and asked her which colour she liked. she gave a cursory glance and jabbed at a plain dark blue jersey right at the end of the row. then she impatiently poked a couple more jerseys in the middle.

we took a look at where her stubby fingers had been and decided on the following:

• mahler (her first choice) - 3rd in the race
• purple moon - 2nd in the race
• master o'reilly - the day's favourite but which fared disappointingly in the race

apart from the above, we hedged with bets on zipping (came in 4th) and dolphin jo (because it was a female jockey).

so the bean didn't let us down - she did pretty good in fact and we didn't lose much overall at the races.

i thought she would be more fascinated with the horses, but they flew by us so quick i don't think she could appreciate them much. she did "nay" (neigh) several times whenever she spotted the white ones the stewards were riding, but she was more interested in climbing up and down the stands during the races.