Pubs were packed to the rafters with fabulous fascinators and boisterous bettors hoping to pick a winner for the race that stops the nation.

In a surprise result, Mark Zahra rode Gold Trip to victory in the $8 million Melbourne Cup with an impressive run down the home straight.

At Newcastle's Honeysuckle Hotel, Karla Riordan and Hollie Summers were stoked to be among the action for the first 'normal' Melbourne Cup celebration since COVID-19.

"It's hairdressers' picnic day technically, so everyone comes here," Ms Riordan said.

"This has always been our local, I used to live in here and we always come here - the staff are lovely and they make us feel welcome.

"It was really tough the last few years with Melbourne Cup being such a big day for us, it's nice to not have to sit down the whole time and to be able to get amongst it - it feels like things are back to normal."

The race itself drew plenty of spectators out, as Emissary claimed second and High Emocean climbed the ranks from last to finish third.

Favourite Deauville Legend, which closed at $4.60, took out fourth place at Flemington on Tuesday.

Win or lose, Honeysuckle Hotel manager Sean Turnbull said he was stoked with the turnout.

"I was a bit unsure, it's been about three years since we've done a really big event, but we quite often get a lot of people come over later from other pubs," he said.

"We're running around 60 staff at the moment and 20 of those would have been hired in the last three or four weeks ready for summer, because from this weekend onwards it gets really busy.

"It's one of our biggest days, we have about six really big days and Melbourne Cup is one of them, along with New Year's Eve, Australia Day and Anzac Day - it's really about exposing people to our venue."

He said over the years Melbourne Cup celebrations have continued to grow, so it was no surprise the pre-booked areas sold out weeks in advance.

"We have built our Melbourne Cup celebrations over the years to be bigger and better, and it's always a great day at the pub, but myself and the team are particularly grateful to be hosting it this year," he said.

"It's wonderful to help bring people together, and it's exciting to see friends, family and locals connect with each other after two years of COVID restrictions."

Gold Trip's thumping win came after the six-year-old finished second in the Caulfield Cup a fortnight ago, before running ninth in the Cox Plate last week.

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