The Stanhope township has been selected as one of 24 country towns that will be given a runner in a Cup sweep which has a $50,000 first prize.
Stanhope will be allocated a barrier number and will own the horse that jumps from that barrier in the big race. If that horse wins the town will be able to select a charity to receive the $50,000 windfall.
Last year the Cup sweep was won by Bendigo, which had Verry Elleegant in the sweep (which, for the record, started from barrier 17).
The 2022 Cup toured Stanhope last week in the company of 2001 Cup-winning trainer Sheila Laxon, Victorian Racing Club head of security Simon Ogden and thoroughbred racing historian Andrew Lemon.
First stop on the day-long tour of Stanhope was the Emmett family’s Shenstone Jersey Stud.
Fittingly Friday (October 14) was also the 88th birthday on Emmett family matriarch, Angela Emmett.
She came to Australia as a teenager and married Mac Emmett, who operated the property after inheriting it from his father until passing it on to a fourth generation, Mac’s son Gordon.
Mac, who died a decade ago, was the grandfather of Craig Emmett, who has run the family business for more than two years.
A fifth Emmett generation was represented by four-year-old Xavier, son of Craig’s brother Marcus.
The Emmett family had a family breakfast celebration for Angela before the Cup arrived.
The family has been on property since, which was one of the original parcels offered at the solider’s settlement.
Stanhope’s Emmett family, along with the Bell and Sherman families, are among only a handful of the original families that remain in the area.
