2020 Melbourne Cup betting sites
It is known as the race that stops a nation — and while that may be the saying that now bores a nation, there’s no doubt that for five minutes, everything comes to a dramatic stand-still for the Melbourne Cup.
The Melbourne Cup is one of the world’s richest horse races and draws the best talent from around the globe to compete for the enormous prize money on offer.
The race has seen winners from Australia, Japan, Germany, England and Ireland and routinely draws an incredible audience both on track at Flemington racecourse and on television.
Traditionally Flemington will house close to 100,000 patrons on-course for the world’s most famous staying race, with a global audience of well over 700 million people expected to tune in.
Top 2020 Melbourne Cup bookies
This is my table
2019 Melbourne Cup odds
Recent Melbourne Cup results
Place Silks No. Horse Trainer Jockey Margin Barrier Weight Odds 1st 
23 Vow And Declare Danny O’Brien Craig Williams 23 52kg $12 2nd 
12 Prince Of Arran Charlie Fellowes Michael Walker 0.2L 8 54kg $17 3rd 
20 Il Paradiso Aidan O’Brien Wayne Lordan 0.3L 17 52.5kg $15 4th 
3 Master Of Reality Joseph O’Brien Frankie Detorri 0.4L 1 55.5kg $26 5th
18 Surprise Baby Paul Preusker Jordan Childs 0.9L 20 52.5kg $12 6th 
2 Mer De Glace Hisashi Shimizu Damian Lane 1.2L 2 56kg $9.50 7th 
11 Finche Chris Waller Kerrin McEvoy 1.4L 4 54kg $8.50 8th 
1 Cross Counter Charlie Appleby William Buick 1.6L 5 57.5kg $13 9th 
21 Steel Prince Anthony Freedman Brett Prebblk 2.1L 16 52.5kg $61 10th 
15 Magic Wand Aidan O’Brien Ryan Moore 3.6L 24 53.5kg $26 11th 
10 Twilight Money Joseph O’Brien Hugh Bowman 3.8L 19 55kg $41 12th 
17 Sound Mike Moroney James Winks 3.9L 10 53.5kg $91 13th 
19 Constantinople D & B Hayes & T Dabernig Joao Moreira 4.1L 7 52.5kg $9.50 14th 
4 Mirage Dancer T Busuttin & N Young Ben Melham 4.3L 13 55.5kg $51 15th 
6 Hunting Horn Aidan O’Brien Seamie Heffernan 4.5L 11 55kg $51 16th 
13 Raymond Tusk Richard Hannon Jamie Spencer 5L 3 54kg $21 17th 
22 The Chosen One M Baker & A Forsman Tim Clark 5.2L 18 52kg $31 18th 
7 Latrobe Joseph O’Brien James McDonald 6.45L 22 55kg $21 19th 
5 Southern France C Maher & D Eustace Mark Zahra 6.55L 14 55.5kg $26 20th 
24 Youngstar Chris Waller Tommy Berry 7.3L 9 52kg $31 21st 
16 Neufbosc D & B Hayes & T Dabernig Luke Nolen 8.3L 23 53.5kg $101 22nd 
14 Downdraft Joseph O’Brien John Allen 8.6L 15 53.5kg $21 23rd 
8 Mustajeeer Kris Lees Damien Oliver 10.85L 6 55kg $19 Last 
9 Rostropovich D & B Hayes & T Dabernig Dwayne Dunn 40.85 12 55kg $41 - 2018 Melbourne Cup dividends
Place Colours Horse Trainer Jockey Win Place 1st 
Cross Counter Charlie Appleby Kerrin McEvoy $9 $4.40 2nd 
Marmelo Hughie Morrison Hugh Bowman $4.10 3rd 
A Prince Of Arran Charlie Fellows Michael Walker $7 4th 
Finche Chris Waller Zac Purton Quinella $74.70 Trifecta $2,541.90 First Four $38,020.70 2018 Melbourne Cup finishing order
Place Silks No. Horse Trainer Jockey Margin Barrier Weight Odds 1 23 Cross Counter Charlie Appleby Kerrin McEvoy 19 51kg $15 2 9 Marmelo Hughie Morrison Hugh Bowman 1L 10 55kg $12 3 17 A Prince Of Arran Charlie Fellows Michael Walker 3L 20 53kg $23 4 13 Finche Chris Waller Zac Purton 3.5L 15 54kg $26 5 
24 Rostropovich Aidan O’Brien Wayne Lordan 4.5L 21 51kg $21 6 
22 Youngstar Chris Waller Craig Williams 5.75L 21 51.5kg $11 7 
19 Sir Charles Road Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott Oliver Peslier 8.25L 14 53kg $126 8 
1 Best Solution Saeed Bin Suroor Pat Cosgrove 8.75L 6 57.5kg $16 9 
5 Muntahaa John Gosden Jim Crowley 9.5L 13 55.5kg $17 10 
16 Ventura Storm David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig Mark Zahra 11L 7 54.5kg $31 11 
11 Yucatan Aidan O’Brien James McDonald 11.75L 23 54.5kg $6 12 
18 Nakeeta Iain Jardine Regan Bayliss 11.85L 3 53kg $81 13 
18 Zacada Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman Damian Lane 13.85L 20 53kg $151 14 
4 Chestnut Coat Yoshito Yahagi Yuga Kawada 16.1L 4 55.5kg $71 15 
15 Vengeur Masque David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig Patrick Moloney 16.3L 2 54kg $51 16 
3 Magic Circle Ian Williams Corey Brown 19.55L 15 56kg $7 17 
7 Who Shot TheBarman Chris Waller Ben Melham 22.55L 17 55.5kg $31 18 
6 Sound Check Michael Moroney Jordan Childs 27.55L 16 51kg $41 19 
21 Runaway Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Stephen Baster 28.05L 12 52kg $81 20 
8 Ace High David Payne Tye Angland 28.15L 22 55kg $71 21 
12 Auvray Richard Freedman Tommy Berry 68.15L 1 54kg $81 22 
10 Avilius James Cummings Glyn Schofield 69.15L 11 54.5kg $16 23 
14 Red Cardinal Darren Weir Damien Oliver 69.55L 5 54kg $31 24 
2 The Cliffsofmoher Aidan O’Brien Ryan Moore DNF 9 56.5kg $21
How betting on the Melbourne Cup works
Betting on the Melbourne Cup works exactly the same as any other horse race. The key difference being there is a greater interest, which means there is much money spent and a fixed odds market that goes up almost instantaneously after the most recent Cup is run and won.
The win market is simply a return on the odds on offer for every dollar you put on. For instance, the 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist paid $8.50 with Sportsbet fixed odds.
This means punters smart enough to take those odds on the German horse would have received $8.50 for every dollar they invested – one lucky punter put on a 10,000 bet at fixed odds several weeks before the big race, netting him 85,000 dollars.
The $8.50 was a guaranteed dividend too because it was placed as a fixed odds bet, which means you get that price no matter how much the winning dividend fluctuates from when you placed your wager. The fixed odd market also extends to the place and quinella.
Fixed odds markets can be a lucrative way to place a Melbourne Cup bet, with astute punters able to get much better odds on a horse if they are able to identify a winner well before the race day fields are out.
As previously mentioned, the Melbourne Cup betting is unlike any other race in the world in that fixed odds markets will go up as soon the race has concluded, with typically the horse that took out the race opening as the favourite.
This is my table
Bet types on the Melbourne Cup
Let’s go through the most popular types of bets you can place on the Melbourne Cup. Click the drop boxes below to learn more about each one.
- Win bet explains itself. You place your money on the horse you think will pass the post first.
- A place bet gives you a much better chance at getting a return, but it will be significantly smaller. A place bet means your horse can finish within the top three and you will get a return. Having said that, in a field of 24 like the Melbourne Cup, finding a horse to do that is easier said than done.
- An each way bet means you will have something on the win, but also a saver on the place. Typically you put an each way bet on a bit of an outsider, given that the favoured horses in the race pay minimal returns on the place.
- A quinella bet is simple in theory but hard in practise. Placing a quinella simply means you pick the horses to finish one and two in the race in no particular order.
- An exacta bet works the same as a quinella, only difference being the punter has to select the correct order of the horses.
- One of the most popular exotics, a trifecta bet is selecting the horses to finish first, second and third. There is several ways you can put this bet on, whether it be in the correct order or a boxed selection – which means your selections can finish in any order.
- First four – like the win bet – is self-explanatory. Like the trifecta bet you can either select the horses to run in the correct order, or you can box four or more horses to run in any order.
- You can bet on the Melbourne Cup all year round. Outlets such as BetEasy and Sportsbet offer fixed odds markets on the Melbourne Cup not long after the completion of that year’s race.
Best Melbourne Cup bookmakers
This is my table
Those wishing to make an investment on the race that stops a nation have a myriad of options when it comes to wagering their money. Aussies have a swag of freebets available to them although there restrictions on claiming them in some states.
One of Australia’s favourite online bookmakers Sportsbet.com.au have a heaps of options available for the big race, with fixed odds markets up and accessible several weeks in advance of the race itself.
The official wagering partner of Racing Victoria, BetEasy is investing heavily in making horse racing in Victoria the best it can be. Not just that, the BetEasy experience is one that a lot of punters are turning to, with top-tote and protest payouts, it is easy to see why Aussie punters are making the switch.
Melbourne Cup history
Every Australian is aware of the Melbourne Cup. Horses like the legendary Phar Lap, who won the 1930 Melbourne Cup, and Makybe Diva (who won three successive Cups) are given the same plaudits as our most famous sportsmen and women. The race is always run on the same day and is a public holiday in Victoria.
Read our Melbourne Cup Statistics and Facts guide to get a better understanding of the way the race has evolved over the years, and look at some of the quirky coincidences and results that have occurred.
At just after 3pm every on the first Tuesday in November Australia stops as the best stayers from Australia and overseas battle it out over 3200 metres. Kids are let out of school early, lagers flow and of course the on-course crowd exceeds 100,000 putting it right among the biggest race meets in the world.
Just how did the Melbourne Cup evolve into such a huge event?
A man by the name of Frederick Standish, who was a member of the Victorian Turf Club, is widely accepted as the man who created the Melbourne Cup, with it first run in 1861. On Thursday, November 7, 17 horses pounded the course for just over £700. It is believed to be one of the healthiest purses for a horse race at this time.
Archer won the inaugural cup and has ever since been a staple at trivia nights around the country, as the great race has grown into something Standish would fail to recognise.
A little known fact about the early days of the cup is the decision to give members of the club two ladies tickets for the Melbourne Cup, the thinking: “where women go, men will follow.” Perhaps this is why the Melbourne Cup has always been inclusive of the fairer sex.
Latest Melbourne Cup betting news, tips & specials
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