The Bendigo Cup is a listed race taking place the week before the Melbourne Cup, as part of the ongoing spring carnival action. It's raced over 2400m and provides decent country horses a chance to shine during the carnival.
It's likely that the horses running here won't be up to scratch for the main stakes races to come, including the Melbourne Cup, but since the race has been moved back to October (it used to take place in mid November), it may provide some clues in future years.