Hong Kong's legendary sprinter, Silent Witness, enjoys being back in the spotlight during the parade of champions in Melbourne. Photo: AFP

The parade has become an increasingly popular attraction to Melbourne Cup week, and the arrival of the three-handled Gold Cup itself is treated with the same sort of respect as the Olympic torch.

Coincidentally, the Cup trophy has been on a tour of near Olympic proportions, having been the key attraction at racing functions at 26 different cities and towns around Australia, New Zealand and Asia over the past four months.

Silent Witness was joined at the Cup parade by many other champions of days gone by from his retirement home, Living Legends. Crowds up to six-deep lined the streets to see former Cup heroes Doriemus, Rogan Josh and Might And Power enjoy a leisurely stroll from Bourke Street to Federation Square.

Derby-winning jockey Clare Lindop was the belle of the ball, drawing the loudest cheers and most autograph requests. Other crowd favourites included legendary trainer Bart Cummings, who turns 81 this month, and jockey Damien Oliver who will ride Mad Rush. Silent Witness was unbeaten in his first 17 starts from December 2002 until being nosed out of the Champions Mile in May 2005 by stablemate Bullish Luck.

The gelding was owned by Archie and Betty da Silva, was trained throughout his career by Tony Cruz and ridden by Felix Coetzee. Silent Witness was acknowledged as the world's best sprinter by the international handicappers for three straight years, from 2003-05.