But a month earlier, on October 8, in Queenstown and Arrowtown, racing fans will get their chance to beat that winning owner to it, by holding the cup during its worldwide tour before the big race, at Flemington, Melbourne, on November 4.
Following a successful tender made by Gallop South - the organisation that manages thoroughbred racing in Otago and Southland - to the Victoria Racing Club in Melbourne, against a record number of international submissions, the most admired trophy in racing is coming to the Wakatipu Basin for the first time.
The cup is also being taken on tour to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Dubai.
Gallop South chief executive Andre Klein said the public could admire it, pick it up and have their picture taken with it at any of the five public locations, with two private functions also scheduled.
Everyone who picked up the cup during the day would be invited to go into a draw to win either four "all hospitality included" tickets to the VIP Lounge at the upcoming Christmas at Cromwell Races meeting on November 30, or four "all hospitality included" tickets to the popular "Melbourne Cup" race day meeting at Wingatui in the Goodbars marquee.
Mr Klein paid tribute to Goodbars, AWS Legal, Heliworks and Evergreen Lodge for their generous assistance in enabling the Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour to come to the central lakes region.
Also included in the one-day tour on October 8 are stops in Cromwell and Wanaka.
