(Image: News Limited)

Today is the first Tuesday in November, and as most Australians know that means it’s time for the horse race that stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup.

The Melbourne Cup, watched live around Australia, is cause for a public holiday in Melbourne, where punters gamble on horses and watch with bated breath. The 2011 prize for the race was over A$6 million

Held annually since 1861, the race forms part of Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival, which began this year in late October and will run until the end of November.