Flemington was well and truly the heart of the nation that stopped on Tuesday, with one third of all Australia's Melbourne Cup racegoers watching the action live at the famous Victorian racecourse.

Of the 300,000 people who flocked to 44 meetings across all the states and territories, 104,169 of them converged on Flemington.

At Randwick racecourse, 22,129 rocked up to watch the race on the big screen.

Other meetings were held at racing outposts from Longreach in Queensland, to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and Wentworth in south-west NSW.

Australian Racing Board CEO Peter McGauran told AAP the national number was consistent with that of last year.

"More than two million Australians attend at least one race meeting every year and Melbourne Cup Day accounts for a great many of them," Mr McGauran said.

The record Melbourne Cup Day attendance at Flemington is 122,736 in 2003.

Oaks Day, the ladies day meeting which usually draws one of the biggest crowds of the year, attracted 66,757 racegoers on Thursday.

Numbers were down on the 71,825 who fronted for last year's Oaks meeting.