Melbourne Cup: Beginners guide to betting on the big race

On the first Tuesday in November a nation stops to watch the Melbourne Cup – a horse race. Thousands of ordinary Australians are bitten by racing’s ‘bug’ and queue up to have something on a fancied runner and to watch the great race.

Betting on the Melbourne Cup in Australia has become an unwritten tradition and it may be your one and only racing wager for the year.

With a huge field of 24 very good horses, choosing a single runner can be a difficult decision and you may want to be behind more than one.

The rewards are lavish if you are lucky enough to pick the first horse past the winning post or even the second and the third.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you can try an exotic bet on the Cup where you may be lucky enough to get an Exacta, Trifecta or First 4!

What are they you may be saying? Let’s examine what betting options you have on Australia’s most famous thoroughbred race.

Win, place, each way

A win bet is the easiest and most popular bet type for the race. In 2010 racing’s two biggest betting agencies the Victorian (STAB) and NSW TAB’s held nearly $100 million dollars on the Cup alone.

Simply select any horse to win and if your horse is first past the post, you get your stake times the win price.

For example if you had $10 on Dunaden last year ($8.20 on STAB), you would collect $82.

It is the same structure for a place bet and you will get a collect if your horse runs 1st, 2nd or 3rd. As a result of having three chances to collect on a place, the price is less than a win (in Dunaden’s case last year $3.20 on STAB). Red Cadeaux ($14) and Lucas Cranach ($4.50) were the other place getters last year.

If you go ‘each way’ you are staking on both win and place.

Exacta, Quinella, Duet

A bet on multiple runners in the placings is an ‘exotic’ bet and they pay much more than just the win price.

This is much much harder to pick.

An Exacta is 1st and 2nd in selected order and a Quinella is 1st and 2nd in any order (slightly easier than the Exacta). Last year the Cup Exacta (1st Dunaden, 2nd Red Cadeaux) paid $380.10 and the Quinella paid $222.80 on STAB.

A Duet is any pair of the place getters and so there are three possible combinations (1st and 2nd, 1st and 3rd, 2nd and 3rd).

Trifecta, First 4

A Trifecta is all three place getters and a First 4 is 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th past the post. As with the other bet types you can select as many runners as you like to increase your chances, however you may also need to increase your stake.

Success pays handsomely as last year’s Trifecta on STAB paid $4,555 and First 4 $21,593. The average payout of these bet types during the last four Cups has been $8,260 for the Trifecta and $158,613 for the First 4!

Feeling confident to take on the system and win a small fortune? If the answer is yes, you could back at least two runners the win or each way and take all your selections in a Quinella/Exacta. If you want to pay the credit card off or take a holiday, box up at least 3 runners in a Trifecta (or at least 4 for a First 4).

If all this is utterly perplexing but you still want to watch the race with a ticket in your hand, the starting Cup favourite has the best historical strike rate of running into the placings.

For a guide to the runners, read the full preview of runners: Melbourne Cup 2012: Preview and top tips