Melbourne Cup 2023: Ultimate guide to the race that stops the nation
The race that stops the nation is almost upon us, everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 Melbourne Cup is right here for you.
Horse Racing
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The 2023 Melbourne Cup is here and we’ve got you covered for everything you need to know for the race that stops the nation.
A field of 24 horses will battle it out over 3200m with an eye-watering $8 million in prizemoney up for grabs.
Watch the Melbourne Cup LIVE with RACING.COM on Kayo Sports. Join now and start streaming instantly >
Here’s everything to know from when the race starts to who the favourites are to take out the 2023 running of the great race.
START TIME: WHEN IS THE RACE RUN
The Melbourne Cup takes place on the first Tuesday in November, this year it falls on the latest possible date, the 7th.
The big race is set to get underway at 3pm AEDT for Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart.
If you’re in Darwin that’s 1:30pm, 2pm in Brisbane and 2.30pm in Adelaide.
HOW TO WATCH THE MELBOURNE CUP?
Channel 10 broadcasts the Melbourne Cup Carnival including the feature race itself.
You can also live stream the race, Saturday’s barrier draw, and much more via Racing.com on Kayo, or watch via the racing channels on Foxtel.
FAVOURITES TO WIN THE RACE
English import Vauban ($3.60) has been a firming favourite, turning heads with an impressive gallop at Flemington earlier this week.
Reigning champion Gold Trip ($4.50) sits just behind in the markets after producing stellar runs in the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate.
Without a Fight is third favourite ($7.50) with Soulcombe ($11) and Breakup ($16) the only other runners currently sitting under the $20 range.
MELBOURNE CUP PRIZEMONEY
The prize money for the 2023 Melbourne Cup remains the same as it was in 2022 with the total pool sitting at $8 million.
The winning horse will earn a whopping $4.4 million, second nets $1.1 million, third is $550,000, fourth is $350,000, fifth gets $230,000 while horses who finish 6th-12th take home $160,000.
ORDER OF ENTRY AND FINAL FIELD
The final field of 24 is still to be determined and won’t be locked in until after Saturday’s Derby Day at Flemington.
Here is the current Order of Entry for the race.
WHO WON IT LAST YEAR?
Top weight Gold Trip won a thrilling 2022 Melbourne Cup with a powerful finish to claim just the second win of its racing career.
Ridden by Mark Zahra, the UK horse — trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace — finished powerfully and streaked away to win ahead of Geelong Cup winner Emissary, with High Emocean charging home to finish third ahead of race favourite Deauville Legend who was fourth.
More Coverage
Originally published as Melbourne Cup 2023: Ultimate guide to the race that stops the nation
Sydney’s new black type races revealed
As the industry awaits the promotion of The Everest to Group 1 status, black type has been awarded to several of the Sydney spring carnival’s newest races.
Gai plots Broadsiding ambush at Caulfield
Racing’s first lady Gai Waterhouse had to scale a picnic table to get a glimpse of her Caulfield Guineas hope Wanaruah gallop at Caulfield on Tuesday morning ... but she liked what she saw.