Twenty-four of the world’s finest stayers line up at Flemington each November to vie for glory in the Melbourne Cup. Millions of punters bet on the race that stops a nation, as it can help you dial up the excitement.
However, it can be challenging to predict the winner. The field is large and full of elite runners, so you often see long-shots performing well in the Melbourne Cup. For example, $23 outsider Gold Trip won the 2022 Melbourne Cup ahead of Emissary ($26) and High Emocean ($31), while $4.50 favourite Deauville Legend could only finish fourth.
For that reason, many punters bet on a horse to place in the Melbourne Cup rather than to win the race outright. What exactly does a place bet entail, and how do you find out if your horse has placed in the Melbourne Cup? Read on to learn more about Melbourne Cup winners and placings.
What is a Place Bet?
When you bet on a horse to win, your chosen runner simply needs to cross the line before any of his or her rivals. By contrast, a place bet involves predicting that a horse will either win or finish near the front of the pack.
If there are eight or more runners in a race, a place bet is a prediction that the horse will finish either first, second or third. If there are only five, six or seven runners, a place bet requires the horse to finish either first or second. When there are fewer than five runners, a place bet will not be possible.
If you back a horse to place, you get the same payout regardless of whether it finishes first, second or third. Your chosen runner just needs to finish near the front of the field for the bet to succeed.
You naturally receive a smaller profit by betting on a horse to place as opposed to betting on a horse to win a race outright. Choosing a place bet significantly increases your chances of success, so you accept a smaller potential payout as the trade-off.
For instance, a bet on Gold Trip to win the 2022 Melbourne Cup paid $23, whereas a bet on him to place paid $5.80 at SuperTAB.
How Many Horses Place in the Melbourne Cup?
There are 24 horses in the Melbourne Cup, so a place bet applies typically to the first three horses to finish the race.
As mentioned above, a place bet on Gold Trip paid $5.80 in 2022, while a place bet on Emissary paid $7.40 and a place bet on High Emocean paid $9. As Deauville Legend only finished fourth, a place bet on him proved to be unsuccessful.
Australian bookies generally pay out on the first three runners. However, some international bookmakers will pay out place bets on the first four horses to finish the Melbourne Cup. That is certainly the case at all leading betting sites in the UK.
How to Find Out if Your Horse Placed?
Millions of people gather round TV screens to watch the Melbourne Cup unfold, hence the nickname “the race that stops a nation”. Network 10 will show the Melbourne Cup in 2023, and it is expected to switch to Channel Nine from 2024 onwards.
If you catch the race live, the broadcaster will display the results in the immediate aftermath of the Melbourne Cup, so you can clearly see which runners finished first, second and third. As soon as the pari-mutuel payouts have been calculated, you will be updated with information about how much a place bet paid out on each horse.
If you miss the race, you can visit racenet.com.au for details of the result. It will tell you the finishing order and highlight which runners placed the Melbourne Cup, along with the starting price for each runner. You can also watch a replay of the race. Just visit the Racenet Melbourne Cup results page for all the details you need.
Alternatively, you can simply consult the betting site you used. Just bear in mind that the payout you receive can vary depending on where you placed your bet. There are three major totes – TAB in Victoria, NSWTAB in NSW and UBET in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and New Territories. They often provide slightly different payouts, according to betting patterns in each region. You can also use a fixed-odds betting product, whereby you know exactly how much you stand to earn.
What is an Each-Way Bet?
An each-way bet is actually two separate bets: one on the win and another on the place. For that reason, a $10 each-way bet would cost you $20 in total.
If your chosen horse wins the race, both parts of the each-way bet will pay out. If the horse finishes second or third, the win part of the each-way bet will fail, but the place bet will pay out.
This ensures you receive a large payout if your chosen horse prevails, but it also gives you a useful degree of insurance if it finishes second or third.
Each-way betting is especially attractive on horses with long odds and on competitive races, so it is a popular option among punters watching the Melbourne Cup.
However, you can also adapt it according to your own risk preferences. For example, you might decide to bet $5 on a horse to win and $15 on it to place, or you could put $15 on the win and only $5 on the place.
There are lots of other Melbourne Cup betting options, including an exacta, quinella, trifecta and First Four. The dividend payouts will be published alongside the results after the race. Just visit a reliable source like Racenet.com.au or Punters.com.au for all the details.
They will be published quickly after the race has concluded, and you will also see the results and payouts for the various additional races that were held at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day.
