Everyone is an expert. Everyone reckons they have the winner. Every horse in the field is a chance, depending on who you speak to.

This is the story of the biggest race on the Australian thoroughbred calendar – the Melbourne Cup.

When it comes to the Melbourne Cup, you don’t have to be a horse racing expert to have a bet — it is the race that brings a nation together.

Whether its grandma Beryl dropping a fiver on the horse that has the name she likes the most, or hardened punters splurging the big bucks on curious exotics, every one is united on the bet during the three and a half minute, two mile race as they cheer their charge home.

It might actually be inaccurate to call it the race that stops the nation. Perhaps the race that stops the world? The event is broadcast into 120 countries, with an estimated 700 million people tuning in to watch.

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Futures Betting

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Past Results

Where to Bet

Order of Entry

Fashions on the Field

Sweeps

Race Day Program

What is the Melbourne Cup?

The Melbourne Cup is the world’s richest handicap race, with a prize pool in excess of $6.4 million available to the 24-horse field. It is raced over 3200 metres and open to horses aged three years and older.

Being that it’s a handicap event, the best horses are allocated weight penalties in order to level the playing field. The minimum weight is 49 kilograms, while the top weight must carry 57 kilograms or more. The handicapper declares the weights and then will allocate penalties – i.e., more weight – if any of the nominated runners win further big races in the lead up to the cup.

The Melbourne Cup race is held on the first Tuesday in November at the storied Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. It is the main event of the Melbourne Cup Carnival (the Cup, the Derby, the Oaks and Stakes Day), which is part of the broader Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

Entries for the Melbourne Cup close during the first week of August. If there are more than 24 nominees, horses are balloted, with factors such as prize money, results in recent races and handicap weight taken into account to exclude runners.

Direct entry is gained if a horse wins one or more of the following races: Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup, Doncaster Cup (UK), Lexus Stakes, Mackinnon Stakes, Irish St. Leger (Ireland), Victoria Derby, Tenno Sho (Japan), Arlington Million (USA), Sankei Sho All Comers (Japan), San Juan Capistrano Handicap (USA), Australian Stayers Challenge.

Best bookmakers for the 2019 Melbourne Cup

Any bookmaker worth their salt will have a number of bonuses and specials available in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup.

So which online book is going to deliver the best service for you?

The truth of the matter is, the bookmakers we recommend all bring their absolute A-game to the Melbourne Cup.

Whether it’s Sportsbet, the new BetEasy, Bet365 or Neds, you’re going to get a quality service, quality bonus offers and more.

So what we recommend is that you have an account with each and every one of them, to ensure you are getting the best odds on your big Melbourne Cup tip.

It costs nothing to open an account at these online bookmakers and once you have one, you’ll be able to compare odds, take advantage of the best specials available to you and make sure that you’re maximising every cent you punt on the big race.

Recent Melbourne Cup results

• 2018 Melbourne Cup field and results
  
  
  2018 Melbourne Cup results
  

  PLACE	HORSE	TRAINER	JOCKEY	WIN ODDS	PLACE ODDS
  1st	Cross Counter	Charlie Appleby	Kerrin McEvoy	$12	$4.40
  2nd	Marmelo	Hughie Morrison	Hugh Bowman		$4.10
  3rd	Prince Of Arran	Charlie Fellows	Michael Walker		$7
  4th	Finche	Chris Waller	Zac Purton
  				QUINELLA:	$74.90
  				TRIFECTA:	$2,541.90
  				FIRST FOUR:	$38,020.70

  2018 Melbourne Cup field

  No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Odds
  1		Best Solution	Saeed bin Suroor	Pat Cosgrave	6	57.5kg	$15
  2		The Cliffsofmoher	Aidan O’Brien	Ryan Moore	9	56.5kg	$17
  3		Magic Circle	Ian Williams	Corey Brown	17	56kg	$8.50
  4		Chestnut Coat	Yoshito Yahagi	Yuga Kawada	4	55.5kg	$9.50
  5		Muntahaa	John Gosden	Jim Crowley	13	55.5kg	$10
  6		Sound Check	Mike Moroney	Jordan Childs	16	55.5kg	$67
  7		Who Shot TheBarman	Chris Waller	Ben Melham	18	55.5kg	$8.50
  8		Ace High	David Payne	Tye Angland	22	55kg	$11
  9		Marmelo	Hughie Morrison	Hugh Bowman	10	55kg	$17
  10		Avilius	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	11	54.5kg	$13
  11		Yucatan	Aidan O’Brien	James McDonald	23	54.5kg	$4.50
  12		Auvray	Richard Freedman	Tommy Berry	1	54kg	$91
  13		Finche	Chris Waller	Zac Purton	15	54kg	$26
  14		Red Cardinal	Darren Weir	Damien Oliver	5	54kg	$34
  15		Vengeur Masque	Mike Moroney	Patrick Moloney	2	54kg	$67
  16		Ventura Storm	Hayes, Hayes & Dabernig	Mark Zahra	7	54kg	$34
  17		A Prince of Arran	Charlie Fellowes	Michael Walker	20	53kg	$15
  18		Nakeeta	Iain Jardine	Regan Bayliss	3	53kg	$81
  19		Sir Charles Road	Sullivan & Scott	Dwayne Dunn	14	53kg	$101
  20		Zacada	Forsman & Baker	Damien Lane	24	53kg	$126
  21		Runaway	Waterhouse & Bott	Stephen Baster	12	52kg	$34
  22		Youngstar	Chriss Waller	Craig Williams	8	51.5kg	$21
  23		Cross Counter	Charlie Appleby	Kerrin McEvoy	19	51kg	$9
  24		Rostropovich	Aidan O’Brien	Wayne Lordan	21	51kg	$21

2019 Melbourne Cup odds

Note: Watch this space for updated odds comparison for the 2019 Melbourne Cup field

Most online bookmakers provide fixed odds for more than 100 possible horses that could squeeze into the 24-runner field.

TIP: Betting on futures markets well ahead of the race, before your tip has even gained qualification, is going to be a risk, but will provide massively-superior odds to anything you will get in the days leading into the race.

Key Melbourne Cup dates in history

• The first Melbourne Cup in 1861
  The first incarnation of the Melbourne Cup was run on a Thursday way back in 1861. It is now one of the most time-honoured sporting events in Australian history, running every year since. It even survived the two World Wars.
  
• Gathering momentum in 1873
  After starting small, the event quickly gathered steam and, by 1873, it was so popular that people were shirking their work and family responsibilities to make sure they were able to watch the race. This led to it being declared a public holiday by authorities in Victoria that year.
• 1882: In come the bookies!
  The first bookmakers were given licences to operate at Flemington in 1882. The TAB first operated that year, although it wasn’t a recognised entity until 1961.
• Finally a foreign invader takes the cup
  The race was dominated by Australian-trained horses until 1993, when Vintage Crop became the first international raider to win the Melbourne Cup. These days, there are often 30 or more nominations from overseas horses.
• Michelle Payne creates history for women
  154 years after the running of the first Melbourne Cup, experienced rider Michelle Payne created history, becoming the first female jockey to ride the winner of the race that stops the nation, aboard Prince of Penzance, paying an astonishing $101 to win. The story of her victory has since been sold to a movie production company.

Tips on how to bet on the Melbourne Cup

We mentioned it’s the biggest single punting event in Australia and we weren’t lying. Australians drop more than $200 million on the race each year – that’s about nine bucks per head of population. It’s an amazing figure, but there are riches to be made.

Because there is rarely a sure-fire winner, win and place odds are superb even at the top end of the market. With outsiders often sneaking into the top four, exotics can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Outside of the major betting companies, there are often cup sweeps, usually at workplaces or gatherings of friends and families, where people can buy in and get random horses drawn out of a hat. Winners and place getters usually get the spoils of the prize pool, and the last place getter will usually get their money back.

Here’s a short list of some of the ways you can bet on the Melbourne Cup:

• Win bets:
  Win bets are fairly self explanatory. You select the horse you want to win, decide how much you want to bet on it and hope it crosses the finish line first. It’s not rocket science. We would advise that you check the form guide and try to make an informed decision, but the usual rules of punting go out the door on Melbourne Cup day.
• Place bets:
  More chances, lower odds. The horse you back with your place bet must run either first, second, or third for you to win cash.
• Each way bets:
  A bit of a hedge, this gives you the enhanced winner’s odds, while also giving you an opportunity to secure a consolation if the horse runs a drum. So if it runs first, you get a dividend for both the win and place bet, while if it comes in second or third, you forfeit the win wager, but still get a pay out on the place.
• Quinella:
  It gets a little harder here. With quinella bets, you need two or more selections and at least two of your picks must finish first and second in the race for you to collect cash. It doesn’t matter what order they come in, provided they are boxed.
• Exacta:
  An exacta is similar to a quinella, except you must select the exact order in which your horses will finish. So your selections must come first and second in the race, in the order that you pick them. You can have more than one selection to finish first and more than one to finish second, but the bet will cost you more.
• Duet:
  Pick two or more horses and provided two of them finish either first, second, or third, your duet is a winner. Long story short, your picks can come first and second, first and third, or second and third, and you still win.
• Trifecta:
  One of the most popular exotics, this is picking the first three horses to finish. A standard trifecta requires you to pick the exact finishing order of each selection; a boxed trifecta, which costs a little extra, has no such requirement. It’s not as easy as it sounds, though, especially when there are 24 horses in the race.
• First Four:
  This of this as a trifecta on steroids. Instead of three, you need four correct finishers – first, second, third and fourth – to collect your bet. It’s near on impossible, but, if you manage it, you can get rich. In 2013, the first four in the cup paid more the $1 million in some states. Not bad juice if you can get it.
• Futures:
  You can bet on the Melbourne Cup all year round. Online bookies will often put out markets for the next race moments after the completion of that year’s run. Odds will fluctuate greatly as more horses nominate and those horses that win big races get direct entry.

Quick tips for betting on the Melbourne Cup

• First and foremost, make sure you’re punting within your means, even if it is the Melbourne Cup. Don’t spend the rent money on a Cup runner in the hopes of getting it back. It’s bad business. Make sure all your obligations are met and then use your disposable income.
• Make sure you have multiple betting accounts. This is how you find the best odds on your Melbourne Cup runner – and take advantage of the best betting conditions you will find.
• Check the form! Yes, we know said this is out the door, because, for many people, it’s the only time they will bet in the season, but even finding out how the horse has fared over distance races and in recent outings can help inform your decision.

Interesting Melbourne Cup facts

• Just how long is the Melbourne Cup?
  
  The race isn’t exactly two miles (3219 metres). It used to be, but was shortened in 1972 to 1.988 miles (3200 metres) when Australia adopted the metric system.
• The great Mark Twain giving us a compliment
  While these days it attracts the most glamorous pap from across the spectrum of the sporting and entertainment world, the Melbourne Cup was once visited by the great American author Mark Twain. His 1895 visit prompted him to muse: “Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation. The Cup astonishes me.” That’s a pretty good review, in any one’s language.
• The introduction of fashion
  In a bid to encourage more women to attend the cup, the first Fashions on the Field was held in 1962. These days the fine frocks and fancy suits are all the rage at the cup, with both men and women buying into the competitions, with big prizes for best dressed available.
• What is the biggest Melbourne Cup field?
  The limit for runners is 24, but that wasn’t always the case. We would not have wanted to be a jockey when the largest field of 39 runners trotted onto the track in 1890.
• What about the Melbourne Cup trophy itself?
  While the prize money is what winners really want, the Melbourne Cup trophy is actually worth an amazing $175,000. It’s made out of 18 carat gold every year, has three handles and is known as ‘The Loving Cup’.

List of Melbourne Cup winners

Melbourne Cup Guides:

Melbourne Cup Freebets
Melbourne Cup Futures
Cup Betting Guide
Where To Bet On The Cup
Melbourne Cup Odds
Cup Order Of Entry
Melbourne Cup field
Melb Cup Sweep
Cup Form Guide
Cup Race Day
Race Program
Fashions On The Field