Media Puzzle FILM: The Cup

Filming at trackside at Flemington yesterday.

Damien Oliver saw his life flash before his eyes. ''It's surreal, mate,'' he said as he watched the film version of himself parade around the mounting yard. ''I'm not feeling emotional about it - I expect that will come later - but it's very strange.''

Oliver and several hundred others were at Flemington to catch a glimpse of The Cup, the feature film Simon Wincer is making about Oliver's win in the 2002 Melbourne Cup aboard Media Puzzle. He is played in the movie by Stephen Curry, who has shed much weight for the role and learnt to ride but still found himself almost being thrown by one of the three horses playing his steed.

There's no shame in that, though, as Oliver could attest. As the jockey returned to the mounting yard after his 2002 victory, his horse threw him out of the saddle and to the ground. ''Ooh, there you go,'' commentator Bruce McAvaney said at the time. ''It can happen to the great ones.''



Oliver and Curry chatted amiably during the long morning of many takes, though it's not clear whether they discussed dismounting techniques. It's unlikely Curry quizzed Oliver too hard about motivation, either. That one is written in big black letters on the side of his white jodhpurs: J. Oliver.

Oliver rode in the 2002 Cup just three days after his brother Jason died in a training fall in Western Australia, and he wore his brother's silks on the day. Interviewed on his victory lap, Oliver said: ''Mate, Melbourne cups don't mean a thing to me any more. I'd give it back right now to have my brother back.''

That's the loss that will give The Cup its heart and soul, but its body is all about the details. And won't the train spotters have fun with this one.

It was cloudy at Flemington yesterday; on Cup day 2002, it was sunny. The jockey in orange yesterday was one of the shortest there; the jockey he was playing, Steven Arnold, is one of the tallest, at 175 centimetres. The racecourse on Cup day is a riot of roses; yesterday, only a few sturdy survivors could be seen, though where it mattered - in front of the camera - 4000 fakes did a great job of making it look like the first Tuesday in November.

Oh, and one more thing. The women in the crowd of nearly 400 extras shivered in their strapless dresses, but they didn't have a drop of champagne to dull the pain.

Now that's surreal