Melbourne Cup Betting

Each November every person with even the slightest connection to the sport of thoroughbred horse racing cannot wait for Melbourne Cup betting action at Flemington racecourse. Form at Flemington Racecourse is worth looking at but being such a big track most handle it pretty well.

Melbourne Cup betting pools are high, as you would expect from one of the richest races in the world; in 2006 the total prize money was AUD$5 million. The Melbourne Cup often provides open betting and around 140,000 racegoers converge on Flemington to shop around for the best odds.

Form at Flemington Racecourse is worth looking at but being such a big track most handle it pretty well.

Only one barrier - number 18 - has never been successful and in this time of drought there are not too many wet tracks.

More relevant is how the barrier relates to the racing style of the horse - barrier one for a backmaker can be a disaster if they are shuffled back without clear running.

Similarly barrier 20 makes it tough for an on-pacer, although the slowish early pace of a staying race can make it easier for those horses to get across than they would in a shorter event.

Melbourne Cup betting, especially picking the winner, is an imprecise art at best, primarily as it is one of the world's most challenging horse races on the horse racing betting calendar. The race is run over 3200 metres and is a handicapped race. This means, theoretically, that the better the horse is the more weight it has to carry.

You really can't ignore Melbourne Cup betting each November