Melbourne Cup 2024 Betting

Author
Last Updated: 

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.

Bell Icon
Affiliate Disclosure: At Gambling.com, we want to ensure that players are matched with the right casino and sportsbook offers for them. For this reason, some of the recommended site links are affiliate links. More
  1. Boosted Bets from ESPN Personalities such as Scott Van Pelt, Mike Greenberg, and Elle Duncan.
    Earn Rewards Through PENN Play Loyalty Program.
    Variety of Promotions including Overtime & Buzzer Beater Protection.
    Promo Code
    Tooltip
    GAMBLING
    Live Streaming
    Tooltip
    Yes
    In-Play Betting
    Tooltip
    8
    Bet Builder
    Tooltip
    Yes
    Cash Out
    Tooltip
    Yes
    Risk Free Bet
    Yes
    ESPN BET, powered by Penn Interactive, looks to become one of the top sportsbooks in the United States. A clean interface, multiple payment methods, and a plethora of promotions is what sets ESPN BET from other brands.

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 favorite was not running. It's not always available and is most common when there is a very strong favorite.

Melbourne Cup Odds Explained

The odds in the Melbourne Cup are presented to Australian bettors 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, bettors 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 bettors 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.

Interesting fact about the Melbourne Cup:

In the Melbourne Cup's 159-year history, only five horses have won the Cup more than once, Makybe Diva holding the record of three.

Most Recent Melbourne Cup Winners' Odds

YearWinnerOddsJockeyTrainer
2020Twilight Payment25/1Jye McNeilJoseph O’Brien
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

Related Betting Guides

Facebook Icon Twitter Icon Linkedin Icon Email Icon Copy Link Icon