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Melbourne Cup

Latest 2014 Melbourne Cup odds, horses, betting and news:

2014 Melbourne Cup Odds and Betting tips

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Melbourne Cup betting tips

All eyes will be on Caulfield Cup winner Admire Rakti as the Japanese stayer attempts to break all sorts of records by carrying 58.5kg but that welter burden may not stop this class performer. We think Lucia Valentina is also good value with only 53kg and should be backed each way at $7.00. Cavalryman is one of the few definite stayers in this race and should be included in exotic bets. Fawkner, the only realistic Australian chance should place but may not stay the last 200m.

Top 4 picks: 1. Admire Rakti 2. Lucia Valentina 3. Fawkner 4. Cavalryman

Best Quinella: Admire Rakti / Lucia Valentina

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2014 Melbourne Cup odds Win or Each Way (1/4 odds first four places). Odds courtesy of Sportsbet.com.au
Horsebetting odds
Admire Rakti (Japanese raider and 2014 Caulfield Cup winner. Huge weight burden. Class. EW definite) $5.50 Sign Up & Bet Now
Protectionist (High class group race performer from Germany. Laid out for this race. Great prep) $6.50 Sign Up & Bet Now
Signoff (Easy Lexus Stakes winner. Here with a feather weight. World's best jockey on board. Chances) $6.50 Sign Up & Bet Now
Lucia Valentina (Caulfield Cup 3rd. Progressive. Great chance carrying only 53kg. Include in Quinellas) $7.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Fawkner (Aus hope. Cox Plate 2nd. Multiple winner. Owner has won this race 5 times. Stays 3200m?) $9.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Mutual Regard (Irish Raider, won the Ebor - Europe's richest handicap. Multiple 3200m wins) $12.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Red Cadeaux (UK favourite, twice Melbourne Cup 2nd! Well weighted v Admire Rakti on Japan form) $21.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Who Shot Thebarman (Didn't like Caulfield. Should stay and loves the track. Unproven, but Boss on board) $21.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Junoob (Metropolitan winner. Untried further than 2600m. Classy but doubtful stayer. Good barrier) $26.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Cavalryman Godolphin veteran. Definite stayer having his best year. Williams on board. Include in Trifectas) $21.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Willing Foe (Main Godolphin hope. Won 2012 Ebor. Lightly raced. Finished behind Seismos last time) $31.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Araldo (Loves Flemington but horrible draw from 24. Trainer has won race before. Fair price) $34.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
My Ambivalent (UK raider, missed Caulfield through injury. probably won't stay. Look elsewhere) $51.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
Opinion (Ran a shocker a MV but does stay 3200m. Could surprise for Waller at big odds) $51.00 Sign Up & Bet Now
All other horses Click Here Sign Up & Bet Now

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The Melbourne Cup is commonly known as “The race that stops a nation” and is undoubtedly Australia's major thoroughbred horse race. It is the most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races. A race for 3 year olds over a distance of 3,200 metres, the event is held on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne by the Victoria Racing Club and sets off at around 3 pm on the first Tuesday in November.

The race was first held in 1861 and was originally held over two miles (about 3,218 metres) but following Australia's adoption of the metric system in the 1970s, the current race distance of 3,200 metres was established in 1972. As this reduced the distance by 61ft 6in Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3min.19.1sec was accordingly adjusted to 3min.17.9sec. Today’s record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3min 16.3sec. The world record of 3:13.4 over 3,200 metres is held by the Japanese horse Deep Impact.

There is a minimum handicap weight of 49 kg, no maximum weight but the top allocated weight must not be less than 57 kg. The weight of the jockey and riding gear is adjusted with ballast to a nominated figure. Older horses carry more weight than their younger counterparts and weights are adjusted further according to the horse's previous results.

The initial entry fee for the Melbourne Cup is $600 per horse and entry usually closes during the first week of August. Approximately 300 to 400 horses are nominated each year, but the final field is limited to 24 starters. Following the allocation of weights, owners must (on four occasions) prior to the race, declare the horse as an acceptor and pay a fee. The first acceptance is $960, second acceptance costs $1,450 and the third acceptance is $2,420. The final acceptance fee, on the Saturday before the race, is $45,375. Should a horse be balloted out of the final field, the final declaration fee is refunded.

The race Directors have the discretion to exclude any horse from the race, or exempt any horse from the ballot, but in order to reduce the field to the safety limit of 24, horses are balloted out based on a number of factors which include prize money earned in the previous two years, wins or placings in certain lead-up races; allocated handicap weight. However, the winners of the following races are exempt from any ballot:

  • Lexus Stakes (formerly Saab Quality)
  • Victoria Derby
  • LKS Mackinnon Stakes
  • Cox Plate
  • Caulfield Cup
  • Doncaster Cup (UK)
  • Irish St. Leger (IRE)
  • Tenno Sho (Spring) (JPN)
  • Sankei Sho All Comers (JPN)
  • Arlington Million (USA)
  • San Juan Capistrano Handicap (USA)
  • Australian Stayers Challenge
  • The total prize money for this year’s race is AUD$6 million, plus trophies which are valued at $125,000. The first 10 horses past the post receive prize money, with the winner being paid $3.3 million, down to tenth place which receives $115,000 with prize money being distributed to the connections of each horse in the ratio of 85% to the owner, 10% to the trainer and 5% to the jockey.

    The 1985 Melbourne Cup was the first race run in Australia with prize money of $1 million, this was won by "What a Nuisance". The Prince and Princess of Wales (Charles and Diana) attended that year's Cup race meeting, arriving by boat via the Maribyrnong River. The Cup currently carries a $500,000 bonus to the owner of the winning horse from the group one Irish St. Leger, run in September, if it then wins the Melbourne Cup in November.

    Trophies

    The present trophy is made of 34 separate pieces of gold metal which are hand beaten for over 200 hours, thus a close inspection of the inside of the Cup will reveal small hammer imprints. In 2008, the trophy values were increased and the Cup now contains 1.65 kg of 18-carat gold which puts the value of today’s trophy at $125,000 dollars. Awarded since 1919 the trophy is a three-handled gold loving cup with the winning trainer and jockey also receiving a miniature replica. The strapper is also awarded the Tommy Woodcock Trophy, which was named after the strapper of Phar Lap.

    The first trophy was awarded in 1861 and has changed greatly in appearance with several featuring model horses. The first trophy was in fact a gold watch, until an ornate silver bowl manufactured in England with a horse and rider on top, was introduced in 1865. The following year the presentation was an ornate silver cup depicting Alexander taming the horse. There followed a period until 1876 where no trophy was presented, then Edward Fischer an immigrant from Austria produced the first Australian-made gold trophy which had two handles and an engraving of a horse race set at Flemington.

    Several more changes took place to the trophies up until the Second World War years (1942, 43 and 44) when the winning owner received war bonds valued at 200 pounds. Now, a new trophy is struck each year and becomes the property of the winning owner and in the event of a dead heat a second cup is on hand. The last Melbourne Cup trophy manufactured in England was made for the 1914 event. It was a chalice centred on a long base which had a horse at each end. A large rose bowl trophy was presented 1915-1918 and the current loving cup design was introduced in 1919.

    History - Early years

    The first Melbourne Cup took place on Thursday 7 November 1861 and was contested by just seventeen horses racing for the modest prize of 710 gold sovereigns (£710) cash and a hand-beaten gold watch. Although that prize was not the largest purse up to that time.

    In an effort to attract bigger crowds to the Cup, the first secretary of the Victorian Racing Club, Robert Bagot (c. 1828-1881) issued members with two ladies tickets, reasoning that "where ladies went, men would follow". A large crowd of 4,000 men and women watched the race, although it was possibly less than expected because of news reaching Melbourne of the death of explorers Burke and Wills five days earlier on 2 November.

    The Melbourne Cup’s first winner was a 16.3 hand bay stallion named “Archer” in a time of 3.52.00, ridden by John Cutts and trained by Etienne de Mestre. The inaugural Melbourne Cup of 1861 was an eventful race with one horse bolting before the start and three of the seventeen starters falling during the race, two of which died. The winner Archer, a Sydney "outsider" who wasn’t favoured in betting, defeated the favourite and Victorian champion, Mormon by six lengths. Dismissed by the bookies, Archer took a lot of money away from Melbourne, which charged up some interstate rivalry and added to the excitement of the Cup. The following day, Archer was raced in and won another 2 mile long distance race, the Melbourne Town Plate.

    Melbourne Cup legend has it that Archer walked over 800 km (over 500 miles) to Flemington from de Mestre's stable in New South Wales. However, newspaper archives of the day reveal that he had in fact travelled south from Sydney to Melbourne on the steamboat City Of Melbourne, together with de Mestre and two of de Mestre’s other horses Exeter and Inheritor.

    The following year (1862) Archer travelled to Melbourne again by steamboat to run in the second Melbourne Cup, which he again won in a time of 3.47.00 carrying 10 stone 2 pounds. This time the prize was 810 gold sovereigns (£810) cash and a gold watch and the crowd was 7000, almost twice the size of the previous year. [Archer had already won the 1862 AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Randwick, Sydney] This time he defeated a field of twenty starters by eight lengths, a record that has never been beaten and was not even matched for over 100 years, Mormon again ran second.

    It took almost seventy years before any horse was able to win the Melbourne Cup twice when Peter Pan won the race in 1932 and 1934, and winning the Melbourne Cup two years in a row was an achievement not repeated until more than 100 years later when Rain Lover won in 1968 and 1969.

    The following year (1863) Archer once again travelled to Melbourne by steamboat and, despite his weight of 11 stone 4 pounds, would have contested the third cup, but unfortunately, due to a Victorian public holiday Etienne de Mestre's telegraphed acceptance form arrived late, and Archer was scratched on this technicality. The decision was protested and in a show of solidarity, many of de Mestre's owners boycotted this third race resulting in only 7 starters, the smallest number in the history of the Cup.

    The first time that the Melbourne Cup was run on a Tuesday was in 1875 and on 7 November 1876 (the first Tuesday in the month) the three-year-old filly, Briseis, owned and trained by James Wilson Snr., won in a time of 3.36.25. Briseis then went on to create a record that may never be equalled, she won the VRC Derby, the Melbourne Cup and the VRC Oaks all in the space of six days. She was ridden in the Melbourne Cup by the tiny jockey Peter St. Albans, whose recorded age was thirteen (though he was actually 8 days short of his thirteenth birthday) he is also the youngest person ever to win a Melbourne Cup.

    On that day, before 75,000, Briseis with St Albans in the saddle swept to victory amongst the 33 runners; Briseis completing a rare double, the Victoria Race Club Derby and the Melbourne Cup. Jockey and horse have now become racing legends with Briseis regarded as one of the greatest mares foaled in Australia.

    The 1876 Melbourne Cup takes a place in history for another tragic reason; the SS City Of Melbourne sailing from Sydney to Melbourne on Saturday 9 September with 13 strong contender racehorses ran into a savage storm the following day. A total of 11 horses were killed, including Nemesis (the winner of the 1876 AJC Metropolitan Handicap in Randwick, Sydney and favourite for the Cup, owned by John Moffat) and Robin Hood (another favourite, owned by Etienne de Mestre).

    Betting on the big race was paralysed but to the shock and anger of the public, the bookmakers showed no feelings and presented a purse (loaded with coins) to the captain as a token of their appreciation for his part in saving them many thousands of pounds in bets already placed on the doomed favourites. However, the outsider Briseis comfortably won by 1 length in a good time and in the biggest field of all time, making it unlikely that she could have been beaten.

    In 1877 the first Tuesday in November, Melbourne Cup Day, was officially gazetted a full public holiday. It is also the year that trainer Etienne de Mestre won his fourth Melbourne Cup with Chester [owned by Hon. James White]. In 1878 De Mestre fielded more than one horse entering the favourite Firebell (owned by W.S. Cox) who finished last, Chester (owned by Hon. James White) the previous year's winner who fell, and Calamia (owned by de Mestre). Although the least fancied Calamia won easily by two lengths bringing De Mestre’s total up to 5 Melbourne Cup wins.

    This record was not matched for almost 100 years when the trainer Bart Cummings won his fifth Melbourne Cup in 1975. Now regarded as the best Australian horse trainer of all time, Cummings went on to win 12 Melbourne Cups to 2008, and is still training horses.

    Phar Lap, the most famous racehorse in the world in his day, won the 1930 Melbourne Cup from Second Wind and Shadow King as the shortest priced favourite in the history of the race at 11/8 odds on. The horse had to be hidden away before the race after an attempt was made to shoot him and he only emerged an hour before the race time of the Cup. Phar Lap also competed in 1929 and 1931, but only managed 3rd and 8th respectively.

    Over the last 10 years many foreign-trained horses have contested the race, although most have failed to cope with the conditions. The three successful runners include two by Irish trainer Dermot K. Weld, successful in 1993 and 2002 and one in 2006 by Katsumi Yoshida of Japan's renowned Yoshida racing and breeding family.

    The attraction for foreigners is, primarily, the low-profile change to the new "quality handicap" weighting system and the first foreign bred horse to win the Melbourne Cup was Comedy King in 1910. Subsequent foreign bred horses to win were Backwood 1924; Belldale Ball 1980; At Talaq 1986; Kingston Rule 1990; Vintage Crop 1993; Jeune 1994; Media Puzzle 2002; Makybe Diva 2003, 2004, 2005

    The 1938 Melbourne Cup was won by trainer Mrs. Allan McDonald, a successful trainer in New Zealand, with Catalogue. However, at the time women were not allowed to compete as trainers in Australia so her husband's name was officially recorded as the winning trainer. The 2001 Cup was won by New Zealand mare Ethereal, trained by Sheila Laxon, the first woman to formally train a Melbourne Cup winner. She also won the Caulfield Cup, the 2,400 metre race also in Melbourne, and has therefore won what is known as the "Cups Double".

    In 1973 Frank Reys won the Cup on Gala Supreme and became the first (and so far only) Aboriginal jockey to ride a Melbourne Cup winner. Despite some confusion about Frank's aboriginality as his father was Filipino, his maternal grandmother was from the Djiribul people of Norther Queensland, proving his Aboriginal roots.

    Although Reys himself referred to his background as Filipino believing that openly admitting to his aboriginal heritage would have hindered his prospects. It wasn’t until 1987 that the first female jockey took part in the Melbourne Cup, when Maree Lyndon rode Argonaut Style coming second last in the 21 horse field.

    Makybe Diva became the first mare to win two cups in 2004, and was also the first horse to win with different trainers, after David Hall moved to Hong Kong and she was transferred to the Lee Freedman stables. Makybe Diva made history by becoming the only horse to win the race three times in 2005 before a crowd of 106,479.

    In 2006 success went to the Japanese horse, Delta Blues who won by a nose over a second Japanese horse, Pop Rock. However, the following year, due to an outbreak of Equine influenza believed to have been started by a horse brought into Australia from Japan, neither Delta Blues nor Pop Rock participated in the 2007 Melbourne Cup as both horses had been stabled in Japan. Another horse "Leica Falcon" from Corowa, NSW was also not be permitted to race in Victoria, despite Corowa being close to the Victorian border.

    Leica Falcon had been hailed as the new star of Australian racing in 2005 when he ran fourth in both the Caulfield Cup and in Makybe Diva's famous third Melbourne Cup victory, however serious leg injuries meant that the horse did not race for another 20 months. Efficient, the previous year's VRC Derby winner, won the race.

    In 2008 the Cup winner was Viewed, ridden by Blake Shinn and trained by Bart Cummings. The win was Cummings' amazing twelfth success in the race, Bauer ran second and C'est La Guerre third. The 2009 Melbourne Cup winner was Shocking, ridden by Corey Brown, Trained by Mark Kavanagh, second place went to Crime Scene and third place to Mourilyan.

    Record of Historical Events

  • 1869 - The Victorian Racing Club introduced the four day Spring Racing Carnival format.
  • 1870 - The race was postponed.
  • 1876 - The youngest jockey to win was Peter St. Albans on Briseis aged 13 (officially), but actually 12 years 11 months 23 days
  • 1882 - The first bookmakers were licensed at Flemington.
  • 1888 - The first Gold whip was presented to the winning Cup jockey (Mick O'Brien).
  • 1894 - Strand starts were introduced to Flemington.
  • 1896 - The Melbourne Cup was first filmed. This race was won by Newhaven.
  • 1915 - First woman owner to win was Mrs E.A. Widdis with Patrobas.
  • 1916 - The race was postponed.
  • 1925 - The first radio broadcast of the Melbourne Cup was made by the Australian Broadcasting Company.
  • 1931 - The first year the totalisator operated at the Melbourne Cup. The Totalisator Agency Board was introduced in 1961.
  • 1942-44 - The Melbourne Cup was run on Saturdays during the war years.
  • 1948 - The photo finish camera was first used in Melbourne Cup. Rimfire beat Dark Marne. However, many on-course punters believe the result should have been reversed, and it was later found that the camera was incorrectly aligned.
  • 1958 - The first Cup start from starting stalls.
  • 1962 - “Fashions on the Field” was first held at the Carnival.
  • 1973 - First Aboriginal jockey to win was Frank Reys on Gala Supreme.
  • 1985 - The first sponsored Melbourne Cup, and the first million dollar Cup, with $650,000 for the winner.
  • 1987 - First female jockey to ride in the cup was Maree Lynden on Argonaut Style.
  • 2001 - Sheila Laxon, was the first woman trainer to officially win the Melbourne Cup. However Mrs. A. McDonald (1938) with Catalogue was really the first woman trainer to win. Women then could not be registered as trainers in Australia, and it was her husband who was the registered trainer. Mrs. A. Macdonald's win was as a female trainer of a female owned horse.
  • 2003 - First Australian female jockey to ride in the cup was Clare Lindop on Debben.
  • 2003 - The first Melbourne Cup Tour was conducted around Australia, and the biggest crowd, of 122,736, is recorded at Flemington.
  • 2005 - Makybe Diva became the only horse so far to win the Melbourne Cup three times.
  • 2008 - The "Cup King", Bart Cummings, took his 12th win in the Melbourne Cup with Viewed on his 50th anniversary of his first Cup runner.
  • Public holiday

    Melbourne Cup day is a public holiday for all working within metropolitan Melbourne and some parts of regional Victoria, but not for some country Victorian cities and towns which hold their own spring carnivals. For Federal Public Servants it is also observed as a holiday in the entire state of Victoria and since 2007 also in the Australian Capital Territory known as Family and Community Day replacing Picnic Day.





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