Melbourne Cup 2016

The Melbourne Cup, affectionately known as 'the race that stops a nation', is Australia's most beloved and well-known horse race - it's also the richest handicap in the world! Held at Flemington Racecourse on the first Tuesday in November, the Melbourne Cup marks a time when Australians come to a collective stand-still to take in this famous horse race.

The 2016 Melbourne Cup will be held on Tuesday 1 November at 3pm (AEDT). Find your local race time.

Fancy a cheeky flutter? Placing a Cup bet is one of the most widely observed traditions of Melbourne Cup day - and fortunately for punters it's never been easier to back your preferred nag!

Forget about lining up at a crowded betting outlet...online betting is the quickest and easiest way to have a punt. Our Melbourne Cup betting page lists ;all the key bonus bets and betting deals available on this year's Cup!

The 2016 Melbourne Cup Form Guide will be made available on Punters.com.au as soon as the field is locked in!

We're proud to be able to provide one of the most comprehensive and dynamic form guides in the country. Complete with career history, speed maps, ratings and even our Melbourne Cup Predictor tool, the Punters Form guide has everything you need to pick apart this year's race!

Betting on the Cup? Make sure you secure the best value by visiting our Melbourne Cup odds page. Our Odds Comparison tool compares the price of every Melbourne Cup runner. We've basically pitted the TAB against all the leading bookmakers to help you get the best available price.

For example, last year's winner paid $65.9 on the VIC Tote and a whopping $126 with Bet365!

Date:	1 November 2016
Time:	3 pm (EDST)
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	3200m
Race number:	7
Status:	Group One
Field size:	24 (max)
Prize money:	$6 million
2015 winner:	Prince Of Penzance
Fastest time:	3.16.30 - Kingston Rule (1990)
Most wins by a horse:	3 - Makybe Diva
Most wins by a jockey:	4 - Bobby Lewis and Harry White
Most wins by a trainer:	12 - Bart Cummings
Most winning barrier:	Barrier 5
Most winning weight:	54.5kg

Our team of racing journalists will assess every runner that targets this year's Cup. And the Melbourne Cup is a notoriously difficult race to predict, so it can pay to follow the advice of the experts!

Check out our Melbourne Cup Tips page for the full run down.

The noms are in for this year's Melbourne Cup - see the full 2016 Melbourne Cup Nominations right here! 

And keep checking in on these pages because we'll post all the latest updates to the Weights and Order Of Entry as soon as they come to hand!

The Cup offers prize money totalling $6 million, plus $175,000 in trophies for connections.

Finishing Position	Prize Money
1st	$3,600,000
2nd	$900,000
3rd	$450,000
4th	$250,000
5th	$175,000
6th - 10th	$125,000

Check out the current 2016 Melbourne Cup Order of Entry!

It's the key guide to finding out which horses will make the final field. Use it to see where your horse sits in the rankings and be sure to keep an eye on it as it will be regularly updated in the lead up to the Cup.

Year	Winner	Second	Third
2015	Prince of Penzance ($126.00)	Max Dynamite	Criterion
2014	Protectionist ($8.00)	Red Cadeaux	Who Shot Thebarman
2013	Fiorente ($7.50)	Red Cadeaux	Mount Athos
2012	Green Moon ($20.00)	Fiorente	Jakkalberry

Want more? See our complete list of previous Melbourne Cup Results and Winners.

Punters and Kate Waterhouse will bring you the latest in Spring Racing fashion for the Melbourne Cup carnival. Kate has written a number of articles exclusively for Punters.com.au focusing mainly on upcoming fashion trends and the all-important themes for each day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, including the latest in women and men's fashion.

As a daughter of champion trainer Gai Waterhouse and famous rails bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse, Kate is firmly entrenched in racing royalty. She is also the granddaughter of racing legend Tommy "TJ" Smith and the sister of online bookmaker Tom Waterhouse, who is currently CEO of William Hill. Kate is a journalist, media personality, television presenter, radio talent and columnist for The Sun-Herald.
Read Kate's Melbourne Cup fashion blog.

Attendance at the Melbourne Cup has been capped at 120,000 people. Demand for tickets always exceeds supply, so Melbourne Cup tickets should be purchased early to avoid missing out. General admission is the most basic ticket offering but there are many other more specialised ticketing options for those that get in early!

It's important to keep up with any Melbourne Cup scratchings. Scratchings will be declared at 7.30 am on the morning of the Cup. Any horse scratched after this will be deemed a "Late Scratching". All scratchings will be published here live.

The 2016 Melbourne Cup barrier draw will take place at approximately 7pm on Saturday 29 October (Derby Day). Punters.com.au will publish the barrier draw live as it happens.

The barrier draw can have a big impact on the betting market so check back in here to see how it all unfolds!

Find out about this year's likely Melbourne Cup trainers. We've got profiles for all the key local and international trainers; it's a pretty star-studded line-up too! We'll tell you which horses they've entered in this year's race and what their best Melbourne Cup result has been to date.

Learn all about the Melbourne Cup jockeys responsible for guiding this year's cup runners around the famous 3200m at Flemington. We've got profiles for all the key local and international riders, including their form in Melbourne Cups and their performances on the big stage - both here and abroad! This is essential reading for those wanting to back a horse with tried and tested Melbourne Cup Jockey. Finally, make sure you don't miss out on any Melbourne Cup action by downloading our Melbourne Cup app (available for iOS & Android).

Wondering who won last year's Cup? More few than a few horses that competed in last year's race will back up again this year, so reviewing past results can provide good insight to a horse's ability. 

We have the full finishing order of the 2015 Cup as well as the results of the past 10 Melbourne Cups.