I think I love Australia. Or at least love Australian racing. And I’ve only been to one race meeting. I still have three to go in the Spring Racing Carnival including tomorrow’s Melbourne Cup.

Victoria Derby Day, Saturday gone, was one of my most enjoyable days at the races, ever. Up there on a par with Sea The Stars’ Champion Stakes in 2009, Trading Leather’s 2013 Irish Derby or when I backed five winners at Galway Hurdle day 2011.

And, enjoyable it was in spite of the absolute punting nightmare I had.

The whole attitude to racing over here is just something like a significantly enhanced version of what we have back at home. People just seem to like the sport more and that demand is matched by the coverage, which is deep though all platforms.

I have yet to see a front page of the Herald Sun newspaper that hasn’t featured a racing story. On the way from the airport, listening to a mainstream radio station, I heard an advertisement for the stud fee of stallion Starspangledbanner.

On Twitter someone described this four-day carnival as the flat racing, Australia-version of Cheltenham. And I’m happy to go along with that. I am staying with my uncle and his family, and on Friday evening we sat down and, in between races at Moonee Valley, held a forum on each race at Flemington. Magic.

Okay maybe that’s not an accurate reflection of what every Australian household was engaging in but it’s a little taster. On Saturday my uncle left the house at 8:30am to drive into a reserved space in the ‘Rails’ enclosure. This enclosure lets you drive your car into a pre-reserved pitch where you can set up a canopy and bring whatever you want - barbeque, food, drink, chairs, tables.

It’s superb. The enclosure was situated parallel with the track, at about the 400m mark. Inside you also had a huge screen showing racing from every other track that day plus online bookmakers and TAB betting (more or less the equivalent of the Tote).

Think of it as a professional version of what people often do outside the Curragh on Irish Derby Day. Or like the popular American custom of tailgating, except inside the stadium, with the live action unfolding in front of you.

And it’s not as if you were stuck there for the day. Beside the enclosure was the pre-parade ring, which you could walk to easily and the mounting yard (actual parade ring) was next on the other side of that.

Australia is a sports mad nation but there is no doubt that racing holds its own alongside the other big numbers. There is also no doubt that betting is integral to this. When you go racing to Flemington, you may as well be at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney, or Morphetville in Adelaide as well. It goes race-by-race and if you were disorganised, like me, you’re on the fast track to an empty wallet.

Betting-wise, I’m hoping that I’ll go back to Flemington tomorrow, better for the experience, coming on significantly for my first run.

THE CUP

Over here there seems to be a lot of confidence about Ireland’s bid to score only a third ever Melbourne Cup winner. We have just over a quarter of the 23-runner field and, more significantly, four of the first eight in the betting.

Willie Mullins has three - Thomas Hobson, Max Dynamite and Wicklow Brave - all with chances, However there has been an overriding feeling that Thomas Hobson carries the most confidence from Closutton, not to mention the relief Mullins exuded when it was confirmed Rich Ricci’s horse was actually going to get a run.

Mullins, whose genius is beginning to be recognised worldwide, started talking about Melbourne just after Thomas Hobson won the Ascot Stakes. He must have a huge chance.

That said, I backed Rekindling a long time ago and I’m still a big fan of his chances. His owner Lloyd Williams is all about Melbourne Cup winners (involved in five) and the news from his camp is straightforward. We love the horse, he has got really strong European three-year-old form, but we’re just worried about a long campaign which is already into its eighth month.

Don’t be alarmed reading into the three-year-old trend in the race - no three-year-old winner since 1941 - as Rekindling is classified as a southern hemisphere four-year-old and, though still relatively young, on the trend he only has to bridge a gap back to 2009, when the last four-year-old won.

Everyone likes Marmelo, who looks likely to start favourite for Hugh and Hughie (Bowman and Morrison). His run to finish sixth in the Caulfield Cup was eyecatching but perhaps it caught too many eyes and to me he looks a short price at around the 7/1 mark.

Frankie Dettori rides last year’s winner Almandin, who will sport the Williams first choice silks. He has been there and done it but he has a lot of weight now. One racecard number down is Humidor, representing the ever-present Darren Weir team, and he brings in the Winx form, having given the wonder mare a real scare in the Cox Plate.

All in all it looks a typically open race. The last six Melbourne Cup favourites have started at prices ranging between 4/1 and 6/1 and tomorrow’s race will probably fit that trend by post time.