Best Melbourne Cup guide 2017

THE Melbourne Cup is the pinnacle of racing in Australia and one of the most popular race for punters around the world. Considered to be “the race that stops a nation” the Melbourne Cup is held on the first Tuesday of each November and attracts, not only the biggest racing crowd each year, but also the most money bet on one race.

The latest running of the Melbourne Cup was taken out by Almandin, trained by Robert Hickmott, and ridden by top hoop Kerrin McEvoy. Favourites for the November 7 edition of the race include last year’s winner Almandin and Humidor (more form and tips).

2017 Melbourne Cup Results & Dividends

Place	Colours	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Win	Place
1st		Rekindling	Joseph O’Brien	Corey Brown	$17.10	$5.90
2nd		Johannes Vermeer	Aidan O’Brien	Ben Melham		$4.20
3rd		Max Dynamite	Willie Mullins	Zac Purton		$5.20
4th		Big Duke	Darren Weir	Brenton Avdulla
			Quinella		$96.90
			Trifecta		$3,025.10
			First Four		$44,736.30

2017 Melbourne Cup finishing order

Place	Silks	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight	Odds
1		22	Rekindling	Joseph O’Brien	Corey Brown		4	51.5kg	$15
2		7	Johannes Vermeer	Aiden O’Brien	Ben Melham	0.4L	3	54.5kg	$13
3		9	Max Dynamite	William Mullins	Zac Purton	2.9L	2	54kg	$20
4		13	Big Duke	Darren Weir	Brenton Avdulla	5.65L	5	53.5kg	$21
5		18	Nakeeta	Iain Jardine	Glyn Schofield	6.4L	19	53kg	$41
6		21	Thomas Hobson	William Mullins	Ben Allen	8.65L	21	52kg	$21
7		4	Tiberian	Alain Couetil	Oliver Peslier	9.15L	23	55.5kg	$31
8		17	Libran	Chris Waller	Dwayne Dunn	9.65L	7	53kg	$61
9		5	Marmelo	Hughie Morrison	Hugh Bowman	9.75L	16	55kg	$7
10		12	Wicklow Brave	William Mullins	Stephen Baster	10.5L	8	54kg	$71
11		6	Red Cardinal	Andreas Wohler	Kerrin McEvoy	11.25L	24	55kg	$16
12		2	Almandin	Robert Hickmott	Frankie Dettori	11.45L	14	56.5kg	$7
13		23	Cismontane	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Beau Mertens	12.2L	17	50kg	$41
14		23	Amelie’s Star	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	12.95L	10	51kg	$21
15		15	Boom Time	David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Cory Parish	13.95L	9	53kg	$31
16		20	Wall Of Fire	Hugo Palmer	Craig Williams	15.45L	15	53kg	$11
17		19	Single Gaze	Nick Olive	Kathy O’Hara	15.85L	11	53kg	$31
18		14	US Army Ranger	Joseph O’Brien	Jamie Spencer	16.15L	22	53.5kg	$71
19		3	Humidor	Darren Weir	Blake Shinn	16.65L	13	56kg	$11
20		1	Hartnell	James Cummings	Damian Lane	28.65L	12	57.5kg	$26
21		10	Ventura Storm	David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Glen Boss	30.15L	6	54kg	$31
22		8	Bondi Beach	Robert Hickmott	Michael Walker	31.4L	1	54kg	$71
23		16	Gallante	Robert Hickmott	Michael Dee	99.9L	18	53kg	$91
11		11	Who Shot Thebarman	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry		20	54kg	SCR

2017 Melbourne Cup Betting Odds & Field

No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Odds
1		Hartnell	James Cummings	Damian Lane	12	57.5kg	$31
2		Almandin	Robert Hickmott	Frankie Dettori	14	56.5kg	$9
3		Humidor	Darren Weir	Blake Shinn	13	56kg	$11
4		Tiberian	Alain Couetil	Oliver Peslier	23	55.5kg	$26
5		Marmelo	Hughie Morrison	Hugh Bowman	16	55kg	$8
6		Red Cardinal	Andreas Wohler	Kerrin McEvoy	24	55kg	$18
7		Johannes Vermeer	Aiden O’Brien	Ben Melham	3	54.5kg	$9.50
8		Bondi Beach	Robert Hickmott	Michael Walker	1	54kg	$67
9		Max Dynamite	William Mullins	Zac Purton	2	54kg	$14
10		Ventura Storm	David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Glen Boss	6	54kg	$34
11		Who Shot Thebarman	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	20	54kg	SCR
12		Wicklow Brave	William Mullins	Stephen Baster	8	54kg	$61
13		Big Duke	Darren Weir	Brenton Avdulla	5	53.5kg	$19
14		US Army Ranger	Joseph O’Brien	Jamie Spencer	22	53.5kg	$67
15		Boom Time	David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Cory Parish	9	53kg	$34
16		Gallante	Robert Hickmott	Michael Dee	18	53kg	$91
17		Libran	Chris Waller	Dwayne Dunn	7	53kg	$41
18		Nakeeta	Iain Jardine	Glyn Schofield	19	53kg	$31
19		Single Gaze	Nick Olive	Kathy O’Hara	11	53kg	$41
20		Wall Of Fire	Hugo Palmer	Craig Williams	15	53kg	$11
21		Thomas Hobson	William Mullins	Ben Allen	21	52kg	$19
22		Rekindling	Joseph O’Brien	Corey Brown	4	51.5kg	$12
23		Amelie’s Star	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	10	51kg	$21
24		Cismontane	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Beau Mertens	17	50kg	$61

HorseBetting has run the rule through the contenders in the 2017 Melbourne Cup field in our runner-by-runner preview to the race. Look for ongoing updates, key dates for acceptances, race odds comparison and more.

• Advantages to Cup betting

  Betting on a normal day’s racing isn’t even comparable to those who punt on the Melbourne Cup.

  The atmosphere, even sitting at home, is unlike anything else and Australians embrace the day like no other. For adults in Australia its as hotly looked forward to as Christmas Day.

  From a punting perspective, there are a large majority of us that just like to have a runner in the office sweepstakes, but there’s nothing better than punting your hard-earned cash on your Melbourne Cup fancy.

  There are multiple reasons to have a bet in the Melbourne Cup:

  Firstly, the size of the pools are massive — bigger than any other pool for any other race in Australia and around the world.

  What does this mean for you? Even if you’re betting only $1 in the Melbourne Cup, that $1 has already increased in value because the bigger the pool, the better your horse will pay with bookmakers.

  If the pool was small, there would be less money to divided between the winning bets, but the Melbourne Cup pools exceed into the millions and this is where Melbourne Cup punters take full advantage.

  Secondly, because the pools are so high, the possible payouts for players of Quaddies, Trifectas, Quinellas, Trebles and Doubles are very rewarding.

  The Quaddie involving the Melbourne Cup gets into the millions and even if all four favourites win, the payouts are still profitable.

  * The favourites have a 23% winning record in the Melbourne Cup. Just 34 of 150 favourites have won.

  Lastly, our recommended bookmakers have a wide range of Melbourne Cup specials and promotions. Many of them offer sign up bonuses which give new punters a free bet on the Melbourne Cup.

  They also offer refund specials, so if your selected horse doesn’t win, you can still get your money back, along with plenty more rewarding promotions.
  

The 2017 Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s major thoroughbred horse race, not only because of the stake money involved, but it’s a day where even those who have never punted in their life have a little flutter with the bookmakers.

The 3200-metre race is one of the longest flat races in Australia and carries a current prize purse of A$6.2 million with the winner being paid $3.3 million.

The prize money has steadily grown over the past 10 years due to its increase in popularity with punters. It’s punters money that drives the horse racing business and increases have seen its total prize pool shoot from $5 million in 2005 to $6.4 million in 2014.

The race is run at Flemington (Read: How to travel to the Melbourne Cup), Victoria’s premier race track, and the current sponsor is Emirates Airlines which supplies the winning trophies, valued at around $125,000.

For Australians, the Melbourne Cup is a public holiday which saves them from making an excuse at work. It is also a popular race in New Zealand, Europe and Asia as those three contingents usually have runners in the Melbourne Cup itself.

Recent runnings of the Melbourne Cup

2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
Rekindling	Almandin	Prince Of Penzance	Protectionist	Fiorente
Joseph O’Brien	Robert Hickmott	Darren Weir	Andreas Wohler	Gai Waterhouse
Corey Brown	Kerrin McEvoy	Michelle Payne	Ryan Moore	Damien Oliver

• 2016: Almandin salutes for former AFL player
  2016: Almandin offered punters plenty of value despite getting plenty of attention in the days leading up to the Cup. Trained by Robert Hickmott, a former Melbourne footballer, and ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, the six year old gelding sat midfield for most of the race before joining a wall of challengers. Pre-race favourite Hartnell hit the front on the straight, but Almandin powered home to beat Irish stayer Heartbreak City. Read a full report here.
• 2015: Payne becomes first female hoop to win the Cup
  2015: Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, when she guided Prince of Penzance to a historic victory. The win catapulted Payne into international stardom and highlighted just how unpredictable the world’s best staying race can be. The $101 outsider, which was trained by a stunned Darren Weir, beat home English stayer Max Dynamite ($13) and weight-for-age ace Criterion ($19). Remarkably Prince Of Penzance was the longest priced winner, ever, of the Melbourne Cup. The race was also notable as the last for grand old stayer Red Cadeux, who pulled up distressed, and was eventually euthanised.
• 2014: German raider salutes in the Cup
  2014: Protectionist claimed this year’s Melbourne Cup for Germany, with the Andreas Wohler trained star streeting a tired field to win by three lengths. Jockey Ryan Moore put on a masterclass, settling the horse nicely before avoiding traffic and eventually timing a run to perfection. The race was marred by the death of two horses with pre-race favourite Admire Rakti perishing in his stalls after the race, while Araldo was euthanised after breaking a leg. Remarkably Red Cadeaux finished second for a third time after hitting the lead in the straight. Who Shot Thebarman ran third while Signoff came in fourth.
• 2013: Gai becomes first female trainer to win cup
  Fiorente gave the Queen Of The Turf Gai Waterhouse her first Melbourne Cup victory, in the process becoming the first female to train a Cup winner. Red Cadeaux finished second, a second time, after a runner up in 2011. Mount Athos ran third. But it was all about Waterhouse, jockey Damien Oliver and the marvellous Fiorente. It was Olly’s third Melbourne Cup and put to bed a horror 18 months where he was found guilty and ultimately suspended for betting on a rival horse.

2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
Green Moon	Dunaden	Americain	Shocking	Viewed
Robert Hickmott	Mikel Delzangles	Alain de Royer Dupre	Mark Kavanagh	Bart Cummings
Brett Prebble	Christophe Lemaire	Gerarld Mosse	Corey Brown	Blake Shinn

• 2012: Green Moon does it for Williams
  
  Famous owner Lloyd Williams won his fourth Melbourne Cup in 2012, when Green Moon saluted, paying $20. Williams had imported the horse specifically from England to win a Melbourne Cup and his decisions paid of in spades, with Brett Prebble expertly steering it home ahead of Fiorente ($31) and Jakkalberry ($81). All three of the placings were imported horses. The winner was trained by former AFL footballer Robert Hickmott. Pre-race favourite Dunaden found trouble early and never got into the race.
• 2011: Import Dunaden steals show
  Dunaden saluted in one of the most thrilling Melbourne Cup’s in recent history, with the French horse, the second favourite at $8.20, beating out English horse Red Cadeaux, who was to go on and create a remarkable bit of history in the great race in later years, by a whisker. After a pulsating finish, German horse Lucas Cranach rounded out the placings, consigning Australian horses to the scrap heap.
• 2010: French Americain just too good
  It would have been more fitting if an Australian-horse won the 150th Cup, but it was not to be, with USA-bred and French trained Americain saluting. One of the top elects, powered home with a nice turn of speed to win ahead of light weight Maluckyday and favourite So You think. The six-year-old was ridden by Gerald Mosse and trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre had solid lead up form, winning the Geelong Cup several weeks before.

2016 Melbourne Cup result & dividends

Place	Colours	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Win	Place
1st		Almandin	Robert Hickmott	Kerrin McEvoy	$11.80	$4.40
2nd		Heartbreak City	Tony Martin	Joao Moreira		$6.20
3rd		Hartnell	John O’Shea	James McDonald		$2.80
4th		Qewy	Charlie Appelby	Craig Williams
			Quinella		$119.80
			Trifecta		$1,232.70
			First Four		$26,487.10

2016 Melbourne Cup finishing order

Place	Silks	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight	Odds
1		17	Almandin (GER)	Robert Hickmott	Kerrin McEvoy		17	52kg	$11
2		13	Heartbreak City (FR)	Tony Martin	Joao Moreira	0.2L	23	54kg	$19
3		6	Hartnell (GB)	John O’Shea	James McDonald	4.45L	12	56kg	$5.50F
4		23	Qewy (IRE)	Charlie Appleby	Craig Williams	6.7L	15	51.5kg	$21
5		7	Who Shot Thebarman (NZ)	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	6.8L	20	56kg	$26
6		9	Almoonqith (USA)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Michael Walker	6.9L	19	54.5kg	$31
7		16	Beautiful Romance (GB)	Saeed Bin Suroor	Damian Lane	7.9L	1	52.5kg	$71
8		5	Exospheric (GB)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Damien Oliver	8.65L	13	56kg	$21
9		22	Pentathlon (NZ)	John Wheeler	Mark Du Plessis	9.4L	4	51.5kg	$81
10		1	Big Orange (GB)	Michael Bell	James Spencer	9.5L	7	57kg	$14
11		11	Grand Marshal (GB)	Chris Waller	Ben Melham	9.8L	9	54.5kg	$31
12		20	Oceanographer (GB)	Charlie Appleby	Chad Schofield	10L	11	52kg	$9
13		4	Bondi Beach (IRE)	Aidan O’Brien	Ryan Moore	10.75L	5	56kg	$13
14		19	Grey Lion (IRE)	Matt Cumani	Glen Boss	13.75L	16	52kg	$41
15		12	Jameka	Ciaron Maher	Nicholas Hall	13.95L	3	54.5kg	$8.50
16		15	Excess Knowledge(GB)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Vlad Duric	15.7L	21	53.5kg	$61
17		2	Our Ivanhowe (GER)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Dwayne Dunn	15.8L	6	57kg	$51
18		14	Sir John Hawkwood (IRE)	John P Thompson	Blake Spriggs	20.8L	14	54kg	$81
19		18	Assign (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Ms Katelyn Mallyon	20.9L	22	52kg	$51
20		10	Gallante (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Blake Shinn	22.15L	2	54.5kg	$51
21		21	Secret Number (GB)	Saeed Bin Suroor	Stephen Baster	22.35L	10	52kg	$31
22		8	Wicklow Brave (GB)	William Mullins	Frankie Dettori	24.35L	24	56kg	$16
23		3	Curren Mirotic (JPN)	Osamu Hirata	Tommy Berry	27.35L	18	56.5kg	$51
24		24	Rose Of Virginia (NZ)	Lee & Shannon Hope	Ben E Thompson (a)	99.9L	8	51kg	$61

Melbourne Cup history

The Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861 when it was won by Archer. The six-year-old trained by Etienne de Mestre came back the following year and won it again. Unfortunately, Archer was scratched in the 1863 Melbourne Cup due to a technicality when its acceptance papers didn’t arrive in time.

Archer was unable to complete the hat-trick and was retired and returned to its owners where it had been foaled.

Archer set the standard for horses wanting to win the Melbourne Cup and there have been a couple that have won consecutive Melbourne Cups (Think Big 1974/75 and Rain Lover 1968/69), but not even the great Phar Lap was able to achieve what Archer had done.

There has been one horse in recent history that has surpassed what Archer paved the way for back in the late 1900s, and that was when the feel-good story Makybe Diva won three consecutive Melbourne Cups, starting in 2003 and ending in 2005.

The Lee Freedman-trained mare was ridden by Glen Boss in all three starts and it gave the group of owners, in which the horse was named after, a great thrill. In winning three consecutive Melbourne Cups, Makybe Diva elapsed New Zealand’s Sunline as the highest grossing horse in Australian racing history.

Melbourne Cup statistics and records

Listed below are some of the credited records and results over the years for the Melbourne Cup. These feature most wins, winning time and the longest odds paid by a winner.

• Most wins by a horse

  3 – Makybe Diva (2003, 2004, 2005)
  2 – Think Big (1974, 1975)
  2 – Rain Lover (1968, 1969)
  2 – Peter Pan (1932, 1934)
  2 – Archer (1861, 1862)
  

• Most wins by a jockey

  4 – Bobby Lewis (1902, 1915, 1919, 1927)
  4 – Harry White (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979)
  

• Most wins by a trainer

  12 – Bart Cummings (1965, 66′, 67′, 74′, 75′, 77′, 79′, 90′, 91′, 96′, 99′, 2008)

  Bart Cummings is the godfather of Australian Cups racing with 12 Melbourne Cup wins. Starting with Light Fingers ridden by the great Roy Higgins in 1965, Cummings has made the Melbourne Cup his own.

  His most recent win came with outsider Viewed which paid a massive price of $41, but his most memorable wins came with Saintly (1996), Let’s Elope (1991) and Think Big’s back-to-back victories in the mid-70s.

  5 – Etienne de Mestre (1861, 1862, 1867, 1877, 1878)
  5 – Lee Freedman (1989, 1992, 1995, 2004, 2005) – David Hall trained Makybe Diva for its 2003 Melbourne Cup win.
  

• Most wins by a owner

  5 – Lloyd Williams
  4 – John Tait
  4 – Eitenne de Mestre
  4 – Dato Tan Chin Nam (most notably with Saintly in 1996 and Viewed in 2008)

  Lloyd Williams is a perennial Melbourne Cup supporter and there’s rarely a Melbourne Cup run without one of his horses lining up.

  His first success came in 1981 with Just a Dash which was trained by the legendary T J Smith (Gai Waterhouse’s father). He didn’t wait long for this second success which came in 1985 with What A Nuisance.

  Twenty-two years later Williams was back in winning action at Flemington when the Graeme Rogerson-trained Efficient scored the win as a four-year-old.

  Just five years later, the now retired Green Moon scored as a six-year-old with Brett Prebble in the saddle.

  Williams scored his fifth Melbourne Cup win in 2016 with European import Almandin. That gave the famous owner the Melbourne Cup record of most wins by an owner.
  

• Other notable cup records

  Record winning time: 3.16.30 Kingston Rule (1990)
  Widest winning margin: eight lengths by Archer in 1862 and Rain Lover in 1968
  Heaviest weight carried by winner Carbine (66kg) and Makybe Diva holds the record for a mare with 58kg in 2005. Phar Lap carried the heaviest weight of all time in 1931 where it finished eighth. That now equates to 68kg.
  Longest odds winners Three horses have won paying $100. The Pearl (1871), Wotan (1936) and Old Rowley in 1940.
  Shortest odds winners Phar Lap at 8/11 ($1.73) in 1930.
  Fewest runners 7 (1863)
  Most runners 39 (1890). Fields are now limited to a maximum of 24 runners for safety concerns.

All Melbourne Cup guides

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