Table of Contents
- Melbourne Cup Details
- Melbourne Cup Odds
- How to Bet on the Melbourne Cup
- Melbourne Cup History
- Melbourne Cup Betting Tips
- Past Winners of the Melbourne Cup
- Melbourne Cup Field
- Melbourne Cup Tickets
- Melbourne Cup Form Guide
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s most famous annual thoroughbred horse race.
The 3200m handicap is contested at Flemington racecourse in Melbourne on the first Tuesday in November and attracts horses from around the world to compete for over $8 million in prizemoney.
The race has a unique place in the hearts of average Australians with viewing audiences in the millions as people stop to watch the race on television at home or work or at one of the many picnic meetings held around the country on the day.
Cup Day sweeps are held in offices everywhere as ‘once a year’ punters are encouraged to dress up, have a flutter and enjoy the festive occasion.
In Victoria, the Melbourne Cup parade on the eve of the race attracts a huge crowd into the city to watch participants parade through the streets and with Cup Day itself a public holiday in Melbourne, locals are really encouraged to let their hair down or join the masses on track.
Melbourne Cup Details
| Track | Flemington Racecourse |
| Distance | 3200 Metres |
| Status | Group 1 |
| Prize Money | $8,560,000 |
The prize money for the Melbourne Cup was over $8 million. At the time of writing, the MRC hasn't announced any changes to the prize pool.
Melbourne Cup Odds
Our oddsetters are always hard at work to make sure you get the best odds. Click on the button below to see our early markets and odds for the next Melbourne Cup!
How to bet on the Melbourne Cup
You can bet on the Melbourne Cup with Unibet in four easy steps:
Step 1 : Browse the odds and markets for the Melbourne Cup by heading over to our horse betting page.
Step 2 : Place your bet.
Step 3 : If you are not a registered customer, you'll be redirected to our registration page.
Step 4 : After signing up, deposit funds to cover your wagers.
If you need more information you can check out our guide on how to bet on horses.
The Melbourne Cup History
While racing in the colony had existed in some form since the 1840s, a ‘turf’ war between Victoria’s two organising bodies led to the establishment of the Melbourne Cup in 1861.
The first two editions of the race were won by Archer, whose owners were presented with a gold watch on top of prizemoney (a trophy wasn’t actually awarded to the winner until 1865).
The race has been won by plenty of champions over the years.
Sent out the shortest priced favourite in history, the legendary Phar Lap won the race in 1930 and captured the hearts of a public battling through the Great Depression.
In 1950, Rising Fast became the only horse to win three of Australia’s biggest races, the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup in one season while, more recently, outstanding mare Makybe Diva (pictured below) made history as the only horse to have won the race on three occasions.
The race is also synonymous with legendary trainer Bart Cummings, who prepared the winner on 12 occasions, completing the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double with Galilee (1966) and Let’s Elope (1991).
Many of the nation’s top jockeys have also tasted success with Damien Oliver’s 2002 win aboard Media Puzzle an emotional experience for all involved following the death of his brother in a riding accident only days earlier.
In 2015, Michelle Payne (pictured below) became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup on rank outsider Prince of Penzance, a six-year-old gelding.
In 2019, Craig Williams won his first Melbourne Cup on the Danny O’Brien-trained Vow And Declare.
Melbourne Cup - Betting Tips
The Melbourne Cup is a betting bonanza with no shortage of bet types available for punters to choose from.
These range from the more straight forward Win and Place (Top 3) options to ‘exotics’ where bigger payouts are on offer (the First 4 on the 2012 Melbourne Cup paid a whopping $969,406 per $1 investment with the Victorian TAB!), and there are always plenty of extra specials priced up as well.
When choosing a Win bet, punters have the option of taking a Fixed price about their selection or being paid out on the Best of the three Tote dividends declared by Australian TAB’s (with the Starting Price guaranteed should it be higher).
As an extra alternative, punters can place a Top Fluctuation bet which is paid out according to the highest official betting fluctuation on their particular horse.
Past Winners of the Melbourne Cup
Here is a list of the winners of the Melbourne Cup since 2000. Mark Zahra has won the last two editions of the Melbourne Cup (2022 and 2023) on different horses. He won the 2022 edition with Without a Fight and the 2023 Melbourne Cup with Gold Trip. The latest winner of the Melbourne Cup is Knight's Choice, who won the 2024 edition while being priced to win at $91.
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Knight's Choice | Robbie Dolan | John Symons & Sheila Laxon | 03:19.53 |
| 2023 | Without A Fight | Mark Zahra | Anthony & Sam Freedman | 03:18.4 |
| 2022 | Gold Trip | Mark Zahra | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 03:24.0 |
| 2021 | Verry Elleegant | James McDonald | Chris Waller | 03:17.4 |
| 2020 | Twilight Payment | Jye McNeil | Joseph O'Brien | 03:17.3 |
| 2019 | Vow And Declare | Craig Williams | Danny O'Brien | 03:24.8 |
| 2018 | Cross Counter | Kerrin McEvoy | Charlie Appleby | 03:21.2 |
| 2017 | Rekindling | Corey Brown | Joseph O'Brien | 03:21.3 |
| 2016 | Almandin | Kerrin McEvoy | Robert Hickmott | 03:20.6 |
| 2015 | Prince of Penzance | Michelle Payne | Darren Weir | 03:23.2 |
| 2014 | Protectionist | Ryan Moore | Andreas Wöhler | 03:17.7 |
| 2013 | Fiorente | Damien Oliver | Gai Waterhouse | 03:20.3 |
| 2012 | Green Moon | Brett Prebble | Robert Hickmott | 03:20.4 |
| 2011 | Dunaden | Christophe Lemaire | Mikel Delzangles | 03:20.8 |
| 2010 | Americain | Gérald Mossé | Alain de Royer-Dupré | 03:26.9 |
| 2009 | Shocking | Corey Brown | Mark Kavanagh | 03:23.9 |
| 2008 | Viewed | Blake Shinn | Bart Cummings | 03:20.4 |
| 2007 | Efficient | Michael Rodd | Graeme Rogerson | 03:23.3 |
| 2006 | Delta Blues | Yasunari Iwata | Katsuhiko Sumii | 03:21.5 |
| 2005 | Makybe Diva | Glen Boss | Lee Freedman | 03:19.2 |
| 2004 | Makybe Diva | Glen Boss | Lee Freedman | 03:28.6 |
| 2003 | Makybe Diva | Glen Boss | David Hall | 03:19.9 |
| 2002 | Media Puzzle | Damien Oliver | Dermot K. Weld | 03:17.0 |
| 2001 | Ethereal | Scott Seamer | Sheila Laxon | 03:21.1 |
| 2000 | Brew | Kerrin McEvoy | Mike Moroney | 03:18.7 |
Melbourne Cup Field
The Victoria Racing Club (VRC) is yet to announce the field and we will fill you in once we know more. In the meantime, feel free to check out our early odds for the Melbourne Cup to see which runners might make the cut for the final field.
Melbourne Cup Tickets
We will update this space when the VRC releases any infomration about the tickets for the next race. In the meantime, you can check out the ticket prices for the 2024 Melbourne Cup to be in the know.
Tickets for the 2024 Melbourne Cup were available on Tickermaster. There were three types of tickets that were available to non-members:
#1 General Admission Tickets (From $99)
The General Admission included:
- Free entry to The Park – where you could access to pop-up restaurants.
- Access to the Fashion Garden - where you had access to the Melbourne Cup Carnival Fashions on the Field competition. The prize pool for 2024 exceeded $370,000.
- Access to The Park Live Stage, where you could enjoy live performances from many popular musicians. Empire of the Sun and Sophie Ellis-Bextor were be part of the line up on the 5th of November, 2024.
- Access to the famous Flemington Front Lawn and hotel.
General Admission Ticket Prices
- Adult | $99
- Concession | $74
- Junior 12-17 | $30
- Junior U12 | Free Entry
- Family (2 Adults + 2 Juniors up to 17) | $198
#2 Hill Stand Tickets (From $550)
These included all the benefits of a general admission ticket as well as reserved seating at the Hill Stand with a great view of the track.
There were two categories :
- Category 1: Seating located from row E onwards and under the roof line. Price: From $550
- Category 2: Seating located in rows A-D and not under the roof line. These tickets were selling for $450 bul were are sold out one by Octobe 01, 2024, more than one month before the race.
#3 Lawn Stand Tickets (From $300)
The Lawn Stand is at the ground level where you can get a closer look at the action. If you want a wider view, the Hill Stand is the better option. These tickets also came in two categories in 2024:
- Category 1 - Sections 7- 10. Seating located under the roof line but may be exposed to inclement weather. Price: From $320.
- Category 2- Sections 1-6. Seating not undercover.Price: From $300.
Melbourne Cup Form Guide
Doing a little research on the race prior to placing your bets will definitely increase your chances of finding the winner!
While there are any number of factors that may contribute, some of the more interesting things to look out for include the horse’s ability to run out a strong 3200m, how they have performed in some of the major lead-up races (the Caulfield Cup has always been considered a strong pointer) and how much weight they have been assigned to carry.
Once the preserve of Australasia’s best stayers, the Melbourne Cup race has much more of an international presence these days with no fewer than five of the past 10 winners trained or imported from overseas.
For that reason, it may also pay heed to look at the lead-up performances of any of the European-based horses that have been sent out here to contest the race.
While trying to pick the winner yourself is all part of the fun for the majority of people, if you are after some expert advice then Unibet provides a succinct overview and a set of tips that you can bet directly from so you can always leave it in our hands.
We will fill you in with our simplified form guide as we get closer to the race. In the meantime, you can click on the button below to see our more detailed form guide and and latest odds for the Melbourne Cup so you are in the know before you have a punt on the Melb!