The Race of Makybe Diva

For days before the great annual horse race that crowds marquees, backyards and pubs around Australia, the form and fortunes of one bay mare fueled a national conversation. Makybe Diva, the two-time Melbourne Cup winner who'd been passed over when she was offered for sale as a foal, was on the cusp of history and almost everyone wanted a front-row seat. Could the mare do it? Would it matter if she didn't? Would she even run? What might the television crews, peeping through the bushes surrounding her trainer Lee Freedman's coastal property, reveal about her training sessions? So fevered was interest...