Verry Elleegant’s Melbourne Cup victory proves a boon for bookies

The bookies had a field day as Melbourne Cup favourite Incentivise just fell short in his bid to win Australia’s greatest race.

Incentivise carried much of the market in Melbourne Cup betting. Photo: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)

Punters couldn’t stop piling on Incentivise but the bookies took home millions as the weight of Melbourne Cup history proved too big a mountain to climb for Peter Moody’s gallant superstar on Tuesday.

The son of Shamus Award was all the rage across betting markets following his Caulfield Cup win but came up just short in the Melbourne Cup.

A sensational staying performance from the Chris Waller-trained Verry Elleegant ensured bookies had a day to remember as Incentivise finished gallant second.

“It’s not often that we are cheering home the J-Mac and (Chris) Waller combination, but we certainly were today,” Ladbrokes chief executive Dean Shannon said.

“The money on Incentivise was like nothing we have witnessed before in a Melbourne Cup and it was at least a $10m swing for us on the book when Verry Elleegant strode clear.”

Incentivise, which jumped as a $2.90 favourite, claimed the crown as the most popular fixed-odds commodity in TAB’s history, attracting more money than any other galloper in one race. He held an 24 per cent of the market with TAB.

One punter had $65,000 on Incentivise at $2.80, while bets of $20,000 and $10,000 were taken at the same price.

PointsBet took a $500,000 bet on Incentivise at $3 over the weekend, there was a $50,000 wager at $2.50 with TopSport while Palmerbet also took a $15,000 bet at $2.80.

A pair of bets with TAB of $40,000 and $20,000 each-way on the tote ensured some punters didn’t go home empty-handed after supporting the hot pot.

Incentivise had opened as a $2.30 favourite with TAB when the final field was declared and the barriers were drawn on Saturday evening.

In the past 165 editions of the Melbourne Cup, 26 horses have started at odds of $3.20 (9/4) or less, with just three of those favourites adding their names to the honour roll.

The most recent was Phar Lap in 1930.

Cup winner Verry Elleegant held less than a third of what Incentivise did with TAB after drifting from her opening quote of $14 when markets opened on Saturday evening.

A tricky draw of barrier 18 saw her price drift but a perfectly timed ride by James McDonald delivered glory at a $16 fixed-odds price. A bet of $5000 at $16 on Verry Elleegant netted one punter $80,000 while another banked just shy of $100k with $5000 each-way at the tote price of $14.50/$4.