Melbourne Cup Betting Sites & Event Review: Payouts, Bonuses and more

This following page will serve as your ultimate guide to every aspect of Melbourne Cup Betting. Whether it’s the promotions on offer, the types of odds prices to expect, or facts, figures and historical info about the race itself, our event overview will tell you everything you need to know about the Melbourne Cup. Read our complete and thorough analysis to find out more.

Melbourne Cup Betting Offers & Promotions

The Melbourne Cup might be the biggest horse racing betting event in Australia and New Zealand, but there are still plenty of great markets for you to bet on back in the UK. During massive occasions such as these, bookmakers will come up with special Melbourne Cup betting offers in order to entice first timers to have a punt on this huge event. These include a free bet bonus if your horse runs second or third, money back if your horse doesn’t finish, no deposit free bet bonuses, enhanced price boosts for certain horses and rewards even if your horse finishes fifth or eighth. When deciding to back a horse, it is worth taking a look across all different operators in order to find a deal that you think is right for you.

Melbourne Cup Betting Odds Prices

As is common with huge races, such as the Grand National and the Cheltenham Festival, the Melbourne Cup offers far better value horse racing betting odds than any other Australian racing event. In order to scramble over your attention, bookmakers such as William Hill will dramatically boost their odds levels. When you decide to back that perfect horse, remember to take a close look across all platforms and their respective odds levels before putting on that all-important bet.

Some Interesting Facts

There are three to four hundred nominees for the Melbourne Cup, but the final starting field is limited to 24 horses. This hasn’t always been the case, with the 1980 line up totaling 39 horses. Due to Australia’s strict animal laws, all international horses (not including New Zealand) must be quarantined for up to 14 days before being able to travel to Melbourne. These nominees are usually balloted until the final line-up is picked, yet horses that win popular races such as the Doncaster Cup and the Irish St.Leger become exempt from the ballot and immediately qualify.

Event Information:
Inaugurated:	1861	Race location: Flemington Racecourse Successful cup trainer, Bart Cummings
Distance:	2 miles
Surface:	Turf
Track:	Left-handed
Weight:	Handicap
Qualification:	At least three-years-old

It is one of Australia’s biggest horse racing events, Flemington Racecourse boasting audiences of up to 100,000 people. As a result it has become as notable for what happens off the track as what happens on it. Big prizes are awarded at the festival for the best dressed man and woman. Women are required to wear hats or a fascinator, the preference for the latter keeping Melbourne milliners in business. It is here that the miniskirt was vaulted into public consciousness due to Jean Shrimpton wearing one on Derby Day back in 1965.

It has been estimated that up to 80% of Australians bet on the Melbourne Cup. In addition, no matter where they are, the vast majority of them will stop what they are doing to watch the race. In 1986, Vivienne McCredie wrote a poem called “The Race That Stops a Nation” to commemorate the event. As she describes the awesome spectacle:

1. And once a year, that single race
2. Creates the situation –
3. Where we share all the nostalgia of
4. The race that stops the nation.

Historical Info

The Melbourne Cup was invented by a man named Frederick Standish, a police commissioner and the chairman of the Victoria racing club. The inaugural race started on Thursday 7 November 1861, with seventeen horses running. The prize then was a decent 710 gold sovereigns and a hand-beaten gold watch, which pales in comparison to today’s jackpot of six million Australian dollars (around £3.5 million). The shortest odds in the history of the cup was on the great Phar Lap, who was priced in 1930 at 11/8. He famously had to hide away before the beginning of the race because an attempt was made on his life.

Four horses – Think Big, Rain Lover, Peter Pan and Archer – have all won the race, but only one has won three times: the mighty Makybe Diva. With an overall haul of A$14 million, she is the highest earning horse in Australasian horse racing history. As for jockeys the infamous Bobby Lewis won four times between 1902 and 1927, while Harry White matched his record over a brief five year period in the 70s. As for trainers, the “Cups King,” Bart Cumming is head and tails above the rest, having won the Melbourne Cup a ridiculous twelve times. The all-time horse owner is Lloyd Williams, a property developer who has amassed five wins.