2018 Melbourne Cup schedule: Start time for every race
Cross Counter is the 2018 Melbourne Cup winner, after coming from the clouds over the last 800 metres.
Marmelo finished second, while A Prince of Arran finished third.
Melbourne Cup Day was held on the first Tuesday in November, which, in 2018, was November 6. As always, the headline event of the day began at 3pm (AEDT), however, there were ten races on the schedule.
The Melbourne Cup is the richest two-mile handicap race in the world and the biggest event on Australia’s racing calendar.
While the $7.3 million Melbourne Cup was the main attraction and the pinnacle of the racing industry in Australia, there was still plenty of other action across the day with nine other races to be run.
More Melbourne Cup
» Cross Counter wins the 2018 Melbourne Cup
» Full finishing order
» WATCH: Melbourne Cup highlights
You can catch all the racing action on the big day with highlights, live updates and results on The Roar.
The first event was scheduled to start at 11am (AEDT) with roughly 40-minute intervals between every race throughout the day. There was, however, an extended interval either side of the Melbourne Cup itself.
In between races 6 and 7, there was a longer break, as mentioned, to introduce the jockeys and horses for the Cup, as well as the singing of the national anthem just before the horses head into the barriers.
The 2018 Melbourne Cup schedule can be found below.
2018 Melbourne Cup start time, race schedule
| Race No. | Time (AEDT) | Race | Distance | Prize money |
| 1 | 10:50am | Bumble Stakes | 1000m | $150,000 |
| 2 | 11:30am | Tab App Trophy | 1700m | $120,000 |
| 3 | 12:05pm | Grinders Coffee Roasters Trophy | 1400m | $120,000 |
| 4 | 12:40pm | Ronald McDonald House Charities Plate | 2800m | $120,000 |
| 5 | 1:15pm | Schweppes Flemington Fling | 1000m | $120,000 |
| 6 | 1:50pm | Jim Beam Black Stakes | 1400m | $150,000 |
| 7 | 3:00pm | Melbourne Cup | 3200m | $7,300,000 |
| 8 | 4:05pm | Furphy Plate | 1800m | $150,000 |
| 9 | 4:45pm | MSS Security Sprint | 1200m | $150,000 |
| 10 | 5:20pm | The Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes | 1400m | $200,000 |
The Roar makes every attempt to ensure that our information is accurate and up-to-date. However, we do advise that you check the official copy of the schedule closer to the day to make sure you don’t miss out on anything.
