It’s where Geoffrey Edelsten proposed to Gabi Grecko (and dropped the diamond ring), Paris Hilton hooked up with Rob Mills, and champagne house Mumm once installed a swimming pool.
asserted
Mumm → ’ → pool
From its beginnings as a place to catch sight of the horses as they were saddled up to its transformation into the place to see and be seen trackside, the Birdcage has witnessed it all.
asserted
Birdcage → catch → it
This year’s extravagant Lexus marquee features Jason Jones’ French bistro Entrecote, but the restaurateur says that while the Birdcage is more refined and elevated these days, he has fond memories of the parties at Lavazza and Mumm.
asserted
he → feature → Lavazza
I definitely did not hop in, because the bodies in that swimming pool were ones that you wanted to see.
asserted
you → hop → that
Mine wasn’t,” he says with a laugh.
asserted
he → say → laugh
In the Crown and Marmont marquee, DJ and hospitality entrepreneur Grant Smillie remembers Mills, an Australian Idol contestant turned musical theatre star, in hot pursuit of Hilton when she attended the Cup in 2003.
asserted
she → remember → 2003
“It was like, wow, every young buck in town thought he had half a shot,” Smillie says.
asserted
Smillie → think → shot
“She ended up at the Myer marquee.
asserted
She → end → marquee
Smillie credits former marketing expert and celebrity wrangler Mitch Catlin with executing “the best PR stunt of all time” when he installed a cardboard cutout of Kim Kardashian at the Swisse marquee in 2011 after she pulled out less than 48 hours before the race.
asserted
she → credit → race
Other celebrity guests over the years have been hit and miss.
asserted
guests → hit → years
Supermodel Naomi Campbell showed up late to the Lexus marquee and left early, while movie star Matt Damon got right into punting and posing for photos with guests.
asserted
Damon → show → guests
Crown ambassador and Birdcage regular Rebecca Judd says her best Birdcage memory from “recent history” was last year’s Derby Day.
asserted
memory → say → history
“It was a rave,” Judd says.
asserted
Judd → say → ?
“I had a driver booked at 5pm, but I didn’t leave until 7.30pm.”
asserted
I → have → 7.30pm
However, the influencer and entrepreneur’s fondest memories come from her first time attending, when she was aged 21.
asserted
she → come → time
“That was epic,” she says.
asserted
she → say → ?
“Just seeing it all, being a girl from Perth just walking in and seeing the scale of it all, was just insane.
asserted
being → see → it
Taking its name from the Newmarket racecourse in the United Kingdom, the enclosure has always been a popular spot at Flemington.
asserted
enclosure → take → Flemington
The Age reported in 1908 that an estimated 90,000 people attended the Melbourne Cup, noting, “a huge human mass is observed to be surging in the direction of the Birdcage”, where the atmosphere was one of “intense anticipation” ahead of the race.
asserted
atmosphere → report → race
As cars became more common, the area transformed into a place for Victoria Racing Club members to park their vehicles and host picnics of champagne and sandwiches from their boots.
asserted
members → become → boots
Public relations guru Judy Romano of Romano Beck claims credit for kicking off the Birdcage as a place for corporate entertainment when Carlton & United Breweries was the VRC’s major sponsor.
uncertain
Carlton → claim → entertainment
One of Romano’s clients at the time was the car company Saab, so she organised to take over 10 of the car parks CUB had in the Birdcage for staff to park their cars.
“I put two Saab cars on display,” Romano says.
asserted
Romano → organise → display
“Then it’d get dark, and so I would just pull the cars around, turn on the high beams, and turn all the radios on for music until 10 or 11pm.”
As the Birdcage’s popularity grew,
asserted
popularity → get → pm
Louis Vuitton and Emirates joined the enclosure.
asserted
Vuitton → join → enclosure
It was senior vice president of media relations, sponsorships and events at Emirates, Boutros Boutros, who came up with the idea of raising the marquees.
asserted
who → come → marquees
“I think it’s great everybody comes.
asserted
everybody → think → ?
But nobody watches the races,” he told Romano.
asserted
he → watch → Romano
“You can’t see a horse.”
asserted
You → see → horse
At the time, the view from the Birdcage was obscured by a brush fence, and Romano stood on her car to test if elevating the marquees would allow people to see the horses.
asserted
people → obscure → horses
“So that’s what we did,” she says.
asserted
she → ’ → what
“It became a bit of a competition to see who had the best marquee ...
asserted
who → become → marquee
[socialite] Lillian Frank named it Millionaire’s Row, and we all laughed about it.”
asserted
we → name → it
At its peak, the Birdcage housed 50 marquees.
asserted
Birdcage → house → marquees
“Every square inch was marquees” Romano says.
asserted
Romano → say → ?
The enclosure has also been a major place for business networking, with James Packer and Anthony Pratt in attendance, along with Gina Rinehart, who famously took a tumble down the Emirates marquee stairs.
asserted
who → take → stairs
Kevin Mapson, managing director for Pernod Richard Pacific, has spent many years overseeing Mumm’s marquee at the Birdcage.
asserted
Mapson → spend → Birdcage
“The year we did the Moulin Rouge was amazing,” he says.
asserted
he → do → Rouge
“To get the dancers to come out from Paris and entertain us was just ... you never forget that experience.”
asserted
you → get → experience
Mapson says other highlights include installing a replica rocket to celebrate Mumm being the first champagne in space.
asserted
Mumm → say → space
“If I have to pick one moment that was really special, it was having Usain Bolt as a DJ in the marquee,” he says.
asserted
he → have → marquee
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
