Known locally as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is the most coveted prize in Australian thoroughbred horse racing.
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How To Bet On The Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup has the same betting options as other major races, like the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham horse racing or the Grand National. These three types of bets are the most common wagers placed each year during the Melbourne Cup festival:
- Each-Way | It's the most popular Melbourne Cup betting option. You back a horse to win or place - placings generally go down to 4th position, but sometimes 5th or 6th, depending on your bookmaker. If the horse wins, you get a return on the win part of your bet, and the place part. If the horse places, you get a return on your place bet.
- Forecast | A good alternative to the outright win bet, this involves picking the first 2 horses to finish in the correct order. You can go each-way on this bet (reverse forecast), or pick the first 3 in a Trifecta, or the first 4 in a Superfecta.
- Betting Without | This is a new market, where gamblers can place a bet on a horse to win as if the favourite was not running. It's not always available, and is most common when there is a very strong favourite.
The sites that you can sign up to will depend on your location as each province has its own set of laws surrounding sports betting. In some cases your only option may be to sign up with an offshore operator. Some provinces are beginning to change their laws. For example, Ontario Sports betting has now been legalised and there are a whole host of new operators available to sign up with. So, be sure to check what your options are in advance of signing up with any betting site.
Melbourne Cup Odds Explained
The odds in the Melbourne Cup are presented to Australian punters in a different way. Each of the 24 horses running in the Melbourne Cup will be presented as a dollar amount. This means that if a horse is valued at A$5, every dollar you bet on that horse will return A$5 if it wins. To convert this into fractional odds, punters can split the A$5 payout into a profit of A$4 with a A$1 outlay. This would give odds of 4/1.
The best online betting sites like to provide Melbourne Cup odds in this fashion as an alternative to fractional or decimal odds as it may be easier for a first time gambler to understand on the day of the Cup. Most online bookmakers will, however, provide all bets in fractional or decimal odds for more traditional punters too.
Consider these points when plotting your horse racing betting strategy.
The Race That Stops a Nation
As mentioned above, Australia's Melbourne Cup is known to the locals as ‘the race that stops a nation’ and is the most coveted prize in Australian thoroughbred horse racing. It is a huge horse racing betting event, run on the first Tuesday in November each year - a day designated as a national holiday.
More than 200,000 eager bettors flock to Flemington Racecourse on the day of the Melbourne Cup. Offices across Australia stop work close to race time, and throughout the country it is televised on screens at local race tracks.
The Melbourne Cup reaches around 650 million people through its live television broadcast and over the course of the four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival, over AU$650 million is wagered - $350 million of that spent betting on Cup day itself.
Most Recent Melbourne Cup Winners' Odds
| Year | Winner | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Half Yours | 8/1 | Jamie Melham | Tony McEvoy & Calvin McEvoy |
| 2024 | Knight's Choice | 90/1 | Robbie Dolan | John Symons & Sheila Laxon |
| 2023 | Without A Fight | 7/1 | Mark Zahra | Anthony Freedman & Sam Freedman |
| 2022 | Gold Trip | 20/1 | Mark Zahra | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace |
| 2021 | Verry Elleegant | 16/1 | James McDonald | Chris Waller |
| 2020 | Twilight Payment | 25/1 | Jye McNeil | Joseph O'Brien |
| 2019 | Vow And Declare | 10/1 | Craig Williams | Danny O’Brien |
| 2018 | Cross Counter | 8/1 | Kerrin McEvoy | Charlie Appleby |
| 2017 | Rekindling | 14/1 | Corey Brown | Joseph O'Brien |
| 2016 | Almandin | 10/1 | Kerrin McEvoy | Robert Hickmott |
| 2015 | Prince of Penzance | 100/1 | Michelle Payne | Darren Weir |
| 2014 | Protectionist | 7/1 | Ryan Moore | Andreas Wöhler |
| 2013 | Fiorente | 6/1f | Damien Oliver | Gai Waterhouse |