Melbourne Cup 2018 Betting Preview Tips & Odds

The 2018 Melbourne Cup, affectionately known as ‘the race that stops the nation’, will be held at 3:00pm on Tuesday 6th November at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria.
At 9/1 a $10 bet would return $100
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melbourne cup betting 2018
Melbourne Cup 2018
November 06,2018
3pm
By michael.g,
Sites desk
13:04
November 04, 2018

The Melbourne Cup is a handicap race for horses aged three and older.  The race is over 3,200 metres and comes with prize money of $7.3 million. That makes the Melbourne Cup the richest handicap race in the world and also makes it second in prize money only to the $10 million The Everest, (which is held in Sydney in October) when it comes to flat racing in Australia.

Ireland’s Aidan O’Brien trained Yucatan (4/1 with TopBetta*) is the favourite at this stage, having recently won the Herbert Power Stakes with a hugely impressive run.  However, five-year-old stallion Yucatan was taken out of the Caulfield Cup after pulling up a ‘bit puffy’ in his joints as a precaution after that win in the Herbert Power Stakes.

Another Irish fancy is Magic Circle (9/1 with bet365*), who has recorded 8 wins from his 21 career starts, winning at distances ranging from 2,414m to 3,749m.  The son of Makfi booked his Melbourne Cup berth with two dominant performances, winning by six lengths in both the Chester Cup Handicap (3,749m) and the Group III Henry II Stakes (3,264m).  He looks the pick of the runners.

The promising six-year-old will be piloted by two-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey Corey Brown for the race.  The champion jockey will be aiming for a third victory in following wins with Shocking in 2009 and last year’s triumph with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Rekindling.

Cross Counter (11/1 at SportChamps*) has won four of his six career starts in impressive fashion, including the Group III Gordon Stakes (11f 218y) at Glorious Goodwood earlier this month.  Only three years old, but Rekindling’s victory last year quashed any concerns about that age group winning the Melbourne Cup.

The Godolphin-owned Avilius (12/1 with Unibet) thrilled trainer James Cummings with his performance in finishing fourth behind Winx in the Cox Plate.  Previous winners of the Melbourne Cup to run in the Cox Plate include Saintly (1996), Efficient (2007), Green Moon (2012) and Fiorente (2013).

Best Solution (14/1 at PointsBet*) is a four-year-old Irish horse bred by Kodiac out of Al Andalyya. Trained by Saeed bin Suroor for Godolphin, Best Solution has won seven of his 20 starts and has raced in England, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, with his best win to date being the Group I Grosser Preis Von Berlin (2,400m) and the Group II Princes Of Wales’s Stakes (1m4f) at Newmarket this year.  He has won on surfaces from good to soft and has also raced on an artificial surface.

The three-year-old colt Latrobe (14/1 with PalmerBet), by Camelot out of Question Times, is Joseph O’Brien trained and the winner of two of his six starts, most notably the 2018 Group I Irish Derby over a mile and a half at The Curragh.

Latrobe finished second on his only start at two and both of his wins to date have come on good to firm ground at The Curragh.  Last raced on August 22 when seventh of eighth in the Group I Juddmonte International over a mile and a quarter at York in August and is likely to be aimed at the Irish St Leger in September.

Melbourne Cup Betting Guide

In terms of Melbourne Cup betting offers and promotions you can expect all the major players to be offering some sort of promotion on this massively popular race.

Be aware that some betting firms will have different ‘Place terms’ with some paying out on the first three horses home such as Palmerbet but others like bet365* paying out 4 places at ¼ odds. So important to note if you are betting each-way.

There are sure to be other exciting Melbourne Cup offers as the big race approaches such as massively Enhanced Odds on some runners for new customers.

You can always earn yourself a Melbourne Cup free bet by signing up to a new bookmaker who will often give you a free bet token or bonus funds to use on anything once you make an initial deposit or bet. Note that your qualifying bet(s) will usually need to be settled BEFORE your free bet is credited so make sure you register and bet in good time if you want to use it as a cheeky free bet on a Melbourne Cup outsider. Have fun and enjoy the race!

Winner – Magic Circle at 9/1 with bet365*

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