Jase & Lauren’s Cup runneth over on Nova 100

Mick Ryan. Image: VRC

Melbourne Cup fever was in the air and on the air with Nova 100’s Jase & Lauren this morning.

A day out from the famous race, Jase Hawkins, Lauren Phillips and Clint Stanaway spoke with VRC Gardens Manager Mick Ryan about the meticulous planning behind Flemington’s iconic roses:

Mick shared the secret of how the blooms are timed to the minute, in order to hit perfection.

“It’s a combination of a few things. Mainly is our pruning. Our pruning is a secret. Like some roses, we prune the end of April, and that’s a long time from the reflower. So if those roses, I prune them in, say, August, they wouldn’t flower until after Christmas.”

The team also caught up with Melbourne Cup jockey Tommy Berry ahead of the race, discussing the unique atmosphere of Cup Day, his childhood dreams and riding in memory of his late twin brother Nathan.

Clint: “Tommy, we know you lost your twin brother Nathan … more than 10 years ago, tomorrow when you jump into the saddle, how much are you going to be thinking about him?”

Tommy: “Yeah, pretty much every day. It’s when I feel closest to him, and it’s when, you know, we had a lot of great times growing up together, and all of our most memorable moments was on horseback. So it’s just, it’s very special for me to be on horseback and be doing the job I love and something that I shared with him so dearly. So I’ll be thinking of him the whole day tomorrow, and he’s the first person I’ll think of if we get up, that’s for sure.”

Jase & Lauren can be heard from 6am to 9am on Nova 100 in Melbourne. Listeners can stream the show live or catch up with the daily podcast by downloading the Nova Player.