Best apps for the Melbourne Cup

Hobnob with the best at the Spring Racing Carnival with this great collection of apps in your pocket.

Over its 149-year history, the Melbourne Cup has become an integral part of Australian culture. This gorgeous (and free!) book for the iPad details the highlights since its 1861 inception, all the way to the present day.

It's the official app for keeping up-to-date with everything Melbourne Cup! And it's pink! Actually, it's pretty cool: it has a form guide with colours and live odds, a sweep, a map of the race course, trivia, an event guide and an event calendar. Not sure why it's pink, though.

This one isn't Melbourne Cup-specific, but if you're a fan of the races, it's not a bad way to keep track of live race results from the horse, harness and greyhound tracks.

To get in the spirit of the season, this app lets you dress your BlackBerry in racing style with an animated horse racing theme. You can customise everything from phone calls to icons.

The Melbourne Cup ain't the only event goin' down. This app gives you all the info for the Spring races happening around the Melbourne tracks, with news, forms and results.

Of course, we can't forget all the primping and strutting and hats. The Fashion Network Original app keeps you up-to-date with all the designer collections, which may help with ideas for how to stand out on the green.

If you've left your travel plans to the last minute, you can always jump onto Kayak, which allows you to search for flights, hotels, car hire — anything you need for your travel and stay.

If you're the kind of sporting gent (or lady) who likes a flutter, TAB Sportsbet lets you lay your wagers on the fly. Great for those last-minute race bets when the queue in the bookie's office is a mile long.