Melbourne Cup 2022 Betting

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Known locally as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is the most coveted prize in Australian thoroughbred horse racing. It is the biggest betting event of the year, always run on the first Tuesday in November.

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Melbourne Cup Betting Tips

Horse Racing Betting Strategy: Choosing and Using a Strategy
Horse Racing Betting Strategy: Choosing and Using a Strategy
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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 Festival or the Grand National. These three types of bets are the most common wagers placed each year during the Melbourne Cup festival:

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.


Melbourne Cup 2020 Prize Money

Prize money for the Melbourne Cup has been above AU$6 million since 2010, with trophies valued at a staggering $250,000 dollars. Melbourne Cup prize money in 2020 totals AU$7million, the first 12 horses to finish awarded from that pool as follows:

  1. Winner - AU$4million (plus $250,000 in trophies)
  2. Second - AU$1million
  3. Third - AU$500,000
  4. Fourth - AU$250,000
  5. Fifth - AU$175,000
  6. Sixth - AU$150,000
  7. Sixth-12th - AU$150,000

The owner of each prize winner in the Melbourne Cup receives 85% of the prize money, with the trainer receiving 10% and the jockey getting 5%. There is a AU$500,000 bonus for the owner of the winning horse if it has also won the Irish St. Leger run the September prior to the Melbourne Cup.

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.

Interesting fact about the Melbourne Cup:

In the Melbourne Cup's 157-year history, only five horses have won the Cup more than once, Makybe Diva holding the record of three. The 2017 winner Rekindled did not return for 2018, but owner Lloyd Williams was looking for a third straight Melbourne Cup win with betting favourite Yucatan.

Most Recent Melbourne Cup Winners' Odds

YearWinnerOddsJockeyTrainer
2019Vow And Declare10/1Craig WilliamsDanny O’Brien
2018Cross Counter8/1Kerrin McEvoyCharlie Appleby
2017Rekindling14/1Corey BrownJoseph O'Brien
2016Almandin10/1Kerrin McEvoyRobert Hickmott
2015Prince of Penzance100/1Michelle PayneDarren Weir
2014Protectionist7/1Ryan MooreAndreas Wohler
2013Fiorente6/1fDamien OliverGai Waterhouse
2012Green Moon19/1Brett PrebbleRobert Hickmott
2011Dunaden15/2Christophe LemaireMikel Delzangles
2010Americain12/1Gerald MosseAlain de Royer-Dupre
2009Shocking9/1Corey BrownMark Kavanagh
2008Viewed40/1Black ShinnBart Cummings
2007Efficient16/1Michael RoddGraeme Rogerson

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