One race ends, another starts. It's the way of things - the lifecycle.
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These are two entirely different lifecycles though: one an annual horse race in Melbourne, the other a political race in a faraway land.
The nation's popular horse race didn't quite so much as stop the nation today but just pause it for a moment. The usual once-a-year Melbourne Cup office get-together was replaced by a quick peer at a different screen as many continued to work from home, some things remained the same: a horse won, others lost and lots of money changed hands.
And, as has increasingly been the case, another horse died. One of the pre-race favourites, Anthony Van Dyck, was euthanised after breaking down entering the home straight. He was the seventh Melbourne Cup runner to die since 2013.
Only last month the Australian Institute of Family Studies released its report into Australian gambling habits during the COVID pandemic. Even with limited access to gambling venues, the report said that Aussies gambled more often than ever. While there were no fans at Flemington, let's wait and see how much was shelled out on the cup during this pandemically-inspired recession.
Oh, and speaking of all things economic, moments before the gates opened at Flemington, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate to a record low 0.1 per cent from 0.25 per cent. If passed on in full by commercial banks, a person with a $300,000 mortgage would save about $23 a month.
And then, in case it's passed you by, there's the US election. And while Washington, DC, may be 16 hours behind the Australian east coast, the first results lobbed about 4.30pm AEDT. Joe Biden took all five votes in the tiny township that is one of the first to announce results. It's also important to know that the township in New Hampshire's northern tip isn't always predictive of the eventual winner, or even the state's pick. And that takes us nicely to the Electoral College. The what? Yes, it's explained here.
We'll keep you up-to-date as best we can but it's pretty unlikely, though, that either candidate will hit the 270 electoral votes needed to win by the end of the night - which is about lunch time tomorrow for us. But then, it's 2020 ...
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