Melbourne Cup: What you need to now

New Zealand interest in the 165th running of the Melbourne Cup will feature two locally-bred runners and a strong expat Kiwi trainer and jockey flavour.

A Kiwi rest home carer who is already a preliminary winner in the Fashions on the Field contest will be on course at Flemington, while in Auckland a punter is sweating on a stunning $7 bet that could net him more than $730,000.

The main focus is the big race at 5pm on Tuesday.

New Zealand has traditionally had a strong affinity with the Cup, not only with 43 Kiwi-bred wins in the event, but also with offices running sweepstakes and pubs and clubs holding Melbourne Cup parties.

The appeal may not be quite what it once was, but it's still a huge holiday party at Flemington, with 91,000 there last year, while in New Zealand, punters splurged more than $11 million on the 2024 race.

On the racing side, no New Zealand-trained runners have made the field this year, but there two NZ-breds running - Torranzino and Smokin Romans.

That is one more than the Aussies, with the Caulfield Cup winner Half Yours their sole rep on the breeding side.

The Kiwi influence in the race has waned in last decade or so, as it has taken on a more international flavour, with Australian owners purchasing European horses, while Northern Hemisphere trainers have been attracted too by the big purse for the stayers' race, with an overall stake of A$10 million (NZ$11.44m) this year.

In fact, 21 of the 24 horses in Tuesday's race are bred in the Northern Hemisphere. There are eight Irish-bred and seven French-bred starters, three are British-bred, two from the US and one from Japan. Many of those horses are Australian-owned and have raced there for some time.

Chris Waller, who started training in Foxton before crossing the Tasman in 2000, has six runners in the big race, while another expat Bjorn Baker, who like Waller trains in Sydney, will have the French-bred Arapaho in the race.

Sydney-based jockey James McDonald started his career in New Zealand before making it big across the ditch. He is a two-time winner of the world's best jockey title. He rides the Irish horse Meydaan in the Cup, while former Hawke's Bay hoop Michael Dee will ride the youngest horse in the race Furthur, who is three-years-old in Northern Hemisphere time.

With a big move towards large syndicates in recent years, there will be some Kiwi owners involved in the ownership of runners in the Cup.

In a first, husband and wife Ben and Jamie Melham will be rivals in the big race. Jamie rides the early favourite Half Yours, while Ben in on an outsider, the Kiwi-bred Smokin Romans.

Rigorous vet protocols for horses

The Melbourne Cup is now subject to strict veterinary protocols after six horses - all of them internationals - died either during or after the race between 2013 and 2020.

Scans are done of horses before they travel to Australia for the Cup, and all runners have to be CT-scanned before being allowed to run, with two pre-race inspections as well.

The early favourite for this year's Cup, Sir Delius, was withdrawn last month after veterinary advice deemed it to have "a heightened risk of injury".

Fashion on the Field entrant.

The Melbourne Cup has been renowned for its fashion show.

One of the entrants this year is 36-year-old Christchurch rest home caregiver Foster Mwaba, who won a trip to Melbourne after being judged first in the Best Dressed Digital category ahead of the big race day.

She is attending the Cup as part of her prize and will be in the grand final for Fashions on the Field Best Dressed on Oaks Day on Thursday.

Punter sweats on huge collect

The Auckland punter spent $7.41 on a bet in January, which multiplied up 12 horses to either win or place in various races. NIne of them ran on the weekend he took the bet, but he also added Ka Ying Rising to win the $15m Everest sprint and Via Sistina to win the Cox Plate, and then Buckaroo to run in the first three in the Melbourne Cup. The first two of those obliged last month and he is now sweating on Buckaroo, which is trained by Chris Waller, to clean up a big booty.

But if it runs fourth or worse, he gets nothing.

The punter wishes to remain anonymous. "I'm buying enough beers if this wins already without anyone else (knowing)," he told the TAB.

The weather is set to play a big part in the race, with rain on Monday making a heavy track a possibility on race day.

The 165th Melbourne Cup

Flemington racecourse, Melbourne

5pm (NZ time) on Tuesday, November 4

Distance 3200m (2 miles)

Prize money $10 million (world's richest handicap race), with winning owners getting $4.5 million.

New Zealand-trained horses: None.

New Zealand-bred horses:

#23 - Torranzino (sire Tarzino - dam Goldilicious, bred by Payne Family Racing Pty Ltd, trained by Paul Preusker, Victoria).

#12 - Smokin Romans (Ghibellines-Inferno, bred by Brian and the late Lorraine Anderton's White Robe Lodge, Otago; trained by Ciaron Maher, Victoria)

Watch out for:

Chris Waller. The ex-pat Kiwi trainer has five horses from his stable in the race: Buckaroo, Land Legend, Valiant King, River of Stars and More Felons. Waller started out in Sydney with just four horses. He has now won the Sydney trainers' premiership 15 consecutive times.

James McDonald. He rides Meydaan, an Irish-bred trained in England and owned by Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum of Abu Dhabi. McDonald, like Waller, is seeking his second win in the big race after they combined with the Kiwi-bred Verry Elleegant in 2021.

Michael Dee. The 29-year-old left New Zealand 10 years ago to further his career in Melbourne. A lightweight jockey, he has had success in some of Australia's major races including the Caulfield Cup and Victoria Derby. He rides Furthur in the Melbourne Cup.

Facts

History: The Melbourne Cup has been run every year since 1861 although to took a break during World War I and World War II.

The first Tuesday in November has been a public holiday for most of Victoria since 1876.

Owners will fork out $67,000 in acceptance fees to run in the race.

To get the field down to 24, horses are gradually balloted out based on a number of factors including wins, placings, prize money and handicaps.

There are also a number of races in which the winners are exempt from the Cup ballot.

The Cup is a handicap race, which generally means the better performed horses carry more weight to even out the field.

• Distance: 3200m. The distance is the equivalent of the old two miles. It was cut from 3219m to 3200m in 1972 as Australia transitioned to the metric system.
• Prize money: A$10 million (World's richest handicap race), comprising over $9m in cash and nearly $1m in trophies. Winner earns $4.8 million. Second receives $1.1m, 3rd $560,000, 4th $360,000, 5th: $240,000, 6th-12th: $160,000, 13-24th: $100,000.
• Trophies: The first winner of the Melbourne Cup received a gold watch. A new trophy is struck every year. An 18-carat solid gold trophy valued at about $250,000 is now awarded to the winning owners, with smaller trophies given to trainer, jockey, strapper (handler) and breeder.
• Race time: Kingston Rule set the current Melbourne Cup race record winning in a time of 3 minutes 16.3 seconds in 1990.
• NZ records: NZ-bred horses have won the Cup 44 times with 15 of those horses also trained in New Zealand.

The last NZ-bred horse to win the Cup was Verry Elleegant in 2021.

Sheila Laxon, who trained Ethereal to win the 2001 Cup, had her second victory with Knights Choice last year. She trained in Waikato for Ethereal's victory but was Queensland-based last year. She trains in partnership with husband John Symons.

Successful jockey: Kerrin McEvoy, who rides Absurde, has had the most wins of those riding in this year's Cup. He won in 2000, 2016 and 2018.

Pioneering jockey: John Velazquez will become the first American to ride in the race. He is on Parchment Party, which is trained in the US.

Female jockeys: Jamie Melham (Half Yours), Rachel King (Arapaho) and Celine Gaudray (Torranzino) will be seeking to be the second female jockey to win the Cup, after Michelle Payne rode the NZ-bred Prince of Penzance 10 years ago.

Cups King: The late Bart Cummings trained the winners of 12 Melbourne cups, between 1965 and 2008. No one else has got close.

Crowds: The Cup has regularly attracted more than 100,000 people to Flemington. Last year the attendance was 91,000.

Betting: Last year, punters gambled NZ$11.5m on the New Zealand TAB on the Cup, with about $30m spent on racing and sport on the day. The Cup was down from $13.4m the previous year.

More than 127,000 TAB or betcha customers had a bet on last year's Cup, the TAB said.

Melbourne Cup - final field (where bred, trainer, jockey, barrier, weight)

1. Al Riffa (France), Joseph O'Brien/Mark Zahra (19) 59kg

2. Buckaroo (Britain), Chris Waller/Craig Williams (12) 57kg

3. Arapaho (France), Bjorn Baker)/Rachel King (15) 56.5kg

4. Vauban (France), Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott/Blake Shinn (2) 56.5kg

5. Chevalier Rose (Japan), Hisashi Shimizu/Damian Lane (5) 55.5kg

6. Presage Nocturne (Ireland), Alessandro Botti/Stephane Pasquier (9) 55.5kg

7. Middle Earth (Great Britain), Ciaron Maher/Ethan Brown (13) 54.5kg

8. Meydaan (Ireland), Simon & Ed Crisford/James McDonald (22) 54kg

9. Absurde (France), Willie Mullins/Kerrin McEvoy (4) 53.5kg

10. Flatten The Curve (France), Henk Grewe/Thore Hammer-Hansen (17) 53.5kg

11. Land Legend (France), Chris Waller/Joao Moreira (16) 53.5kg

12. Smokin' Romans (NZ), Ciaron Maher/Ben Melham (11) 53.5kg

13. Changingoftheguard (Ireland), Kris Lees/Tim Clark (24) 53kg

14. Half Yours (Australia), Tony & Calvin McEvoy/Jamie Melham (8) 53kg

15. More Felons (Ireland), Chris Waller/Tommy Berry (23) 53kg

16. Onesmoothoperator (USA), Brian Ellison/Harry Coffey (6) 52kg

17. Furthur (Ireland), Andrew Balding/Michael Dee (7) 52kg

18. Parchment Party (USA), William Mott/John Velazquez (3) 52kg

19. Athabascan (France), John O'Shea & Tom Charlton/Declan Bates (1) 51.5kg

20. Goodie Two Shoes (Ireland), Joseph O'Brien/Wayne Lordan (20) 51.5kg

21. River Of Stars (Ireland), Chris Waller/Beau Mertens (14) 51.5kg

22. Royal Supremacy (Ireland), Ciaron Maher/Robbie Dolan (21) 51kg

23. Torranzino (NZ), Paul Preusker/Celine Gaudray (18) 51kg

24. Valiant King (Great Britain), Chris Waller/Jye McNeil (10) 51kg

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