how long does the melbourne cup race go for

The Melbourne Cup race lasts about 3 minutes and 20 seconds for the winning horse over the 3,200 metres, assuming good to dead track conditions. The event itself is run on Flemington Racecourse on the first Tuesday in November, with the main Cup race scheduled as Race 7 at around 3:00 pm local time, and the entire Cup Day program spans several hours with ten races in total.