If you are in town for Cup Week then a must-see is The Horse exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. They have rummaged around in their vaults and pulled out some fabulous horse pictures and sculptures. The exhibition is organised into sections depicting the social history of the horse: in mythology, as a noble steed, a workhorse, warhorse, and racehorse. My favourite? Leaving aside lascivious centaurs, attempting to carry off fair maidens, it was hard to pick between several pictures: Winners of the first twelve Melbourne Cups, 1889, by Frederick Woodhouse Senior, The Betting ring at Flemington,1887, by Carl Kahler and The Toilers, 1940, by Septimus Power were all most excellent. But the clear standout was A lion attacking a horse, 1765, by George Stubbs, the supreme equine artist. Nature red in tooth and claw! And fortunately I was allowed to take a photo on my iPhone with the flash off.

You’ll need to get your skates on as the exhibition has only one more week to run!

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