With a history dating back to 1861, this annual event takes place on Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria. I've known a few friends who have visited the Spring Racing Carnival to enjoy the richest ''2-mile'' handicap in the world.
This spectacular race doesn't just have a history of winning horses but big bettors, too. If you enjoy a wager, and you fancy yourself being lucky on this special day, then the melbourne cup betting is one of the most famous races to savour. Those punters who backed the 2018 winner, Cross Counter, ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, will remember the day with added zest.
Considering the Melbourne Cup is held on a public holiday for those living in Melbourne and parts of Victoria, it's a day for gambling. As one of the bookmakers at Great Yarmouth loves to state: ''It's MONEY without WORK!''.
The race is run over a distance of 3200 metres (fractionally less than two miles) and open for horses three-year-old and older. The race takes place at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November. Very much like the British Grand National, it is known as ''the race to stop a nation''.
With total race prize money of $8,000,000 ($4M to the winner), it is a contest which attracts runners from around the globe. For example, Charlie Appleby trained the winner in 2018, while other high-profile UK trainers such as Saeed bin Suroor, Aidan O'Brien, John Gosden, Hughie Morrison, Mark Johnston, Charlie Fellows & Iain Jardine hope to hit the jackpot.
Cross Counter is likely to be a hot favourite to take the spoils for the 2019 contest.
Interesting facts:
Makybe Diva, trained by Lee Freedman, is the only horse to have won this race three times. In actual fact, this mare won the contest in consecutive years from 2003 - 2005.
Historically, Bobby Lewis (1902 - 1927) and Harry White (1974 - 1979) have won the race four times each, respectively.
The trainer who has won this race an incredible 12 times is Bart Cummings (1965 - 2008).
Lloyd Williams is the most successful owner with six winners (1981 - 2017).
The fastest horse to win this race Kingston Rule (1990) in a time of 3-minute 16 seconds (.30).
If you enjoy a bet, you may strike lucky with a 100/1 winner. Amazingly, four horses have won at these huge odds. The most recent Prince Of Penzance (100/1) in 2015.
The shortest prized winner - one of the most famous racehorses of all time - was Phar Lap who was 8/11 favourite in 1930.
If you back favourites, they have a 23% strike rate in the 150-year race history.
The oldest winner heralds two eight-year-old victors in the shape of Toryboy (1865) and Catalogue (1938).
We said the Melbourne Cup is popular with racegoers. In 2003, the racecourse saw a record-breaking crowd of 122,736.
Good luck if you are betting.