Punters open wallets on Melbourne Cup day

Punters in NSW, Victoria and the ACT have spent more than $140 million on Melbourne Cup day.

In a welcome turnaround from last year’s triple-figure upset, punters have not had to work as hard to find Melbourne Cup winner Almandin.

Almandin started at $11, a turnaround from Prince Of Penzance’s $101 quote before last year’s Cup.

Punters in NSW, Victoria and the ACT bet a total of $94.5 million on the race, slightly down from $95 million last year.

NSW led the charge, wagering $53.7 million while Victorians bet $40.8 million.

There was $141.5 million wagered on the 10-race Flemington program, slightly down from $142 million last year.

A further $5.4 million was bet on the meeting with the Tabcorp-owned Luxbet.

Almandin started on the fourth line of betting behind $5.50 favourite Hartnell, Jameka ($8.50) and Oceanographer ($9).

“Almandin was well supported since the barrier draw so there were plenty of customers that jumped aboard the Williams-owned runner,” TAB’s Gerard Middleton said.

“One of the consistent firmers since the draw, one smart customer took triple figures ($101) back in September and they will be very pleased with themselves.”

Another person had the foresight to have $100 on Almandin at $301 to win more than $30,000 from Sportsbet.

In Victoria, someone turned $1 more than $24,000 by correctly picking the first four – Almandin, Heartbreak City, Hartnell and Qewy.

And a Queensland punter had 88,000 reasons to cheer the horse home.

They had a $2000 all up on the state’s UBET on second race winner Sort After into Almandin for an $88,000 return.

He wasn’t the only punter to have a successful all up bet with another punter turning $3 into $3000 with a four leg multi on the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Victoria Derby and Cup.

UBET spokesman Brad Tamer said systems had help up well 50,000 phone bets were taken during the day.

The TAB made Almandin the $17 second favourite for next year’s Melbourne Cup behind Yankee Rose who is at $13.