Anthony Cummings can easily understand why his legendary trainer father Bart loved the Melbourne Cup so much.

The late "Cups King" trained a record 12 Melbourne Cup winners and his son Anthony and grandson James have both inherited his drive to win the $6.2 million race.

The family took pride of place in the annual Cup parade before thousands of people in Melbourne on Monday, and children carried Bart's 12 Melbourne Cup trainer's trophies.

From a horse-drawn carriage and alongside Bart's first Melbourne Cup from 1965, Anthony said it was nice to see his father honoured again.

"It's a great race and it continues to be," he said.

"It's easy to understand why the old man had such a love for it and such a great drive to try to keep winning it, which he succeeded at a dozen times."

James is determined to continue the Melbourne Cup journey of his grandfather, after their training partnership took Precedence to sixth place last year.

"We have a few really nice horses coming through," James said. "The most important thing is that we keep searching for a horse that's good enough to run in the race."

He says he doesn't feel any extra pressure carrying the Cummings name.

"I feel a lot more confident because I have the teachings and the knowledge passed down to me by my grandfather."

Blake Shinn, who rode Bart's last Melbourne Cup winner Viewed in 2008, said the race would remain all about the legendary trainer.

"I feel it's a little bit of a sombre feeling in my heart with him not here, and I suppose a lot of people would be feeling like that," he said.

"While the race lives on, Bart will still be here with us."

Victoria Racing Club chief executive Simon Love said a crowd of about 100,000 was again expected at Flemington for the Cup on Tuesday.

Numbers were down on Derby Day on Saturday - at 85,943 compared to 90,244 in 2014 - which Mr Love said had been expected given the early thunderstorms and heavy rain.