Horse Racing
Melbourne Cup Bet Lands Punter A Staggering A$3.2m After Picking The First Four Horses Home
Andy is a horse racing journalist and betting expert who specializes in trends and stats. With his long association with TrainersQuotes and FromTheStables, Andy has also built up solid contacts with some of the best stables in the UK. Has written for GeeGeez and bookmakers Matchbook and BetBright in the past too, plus was the former sports betting editor of odds comparison site Easyodds and Juicestorm. Has also appeared on betting podcasts for MatchBook and has featured in the popular Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Guide in the past. Andy's also ghost written for former top jockey Richard Dunwoody and continues to have a monthly column in the Racing Ahead horse racing magazine. Now a regular on Sportscasting giving his views, trends and tips mainly on horse racing - if there's a stat to be explored and it's a sport, Andy is sure to find a betting angle to use. You can also hear Andy's weekly horse racing views and best bets on the popular Final Furlong podcast.
Get to know Andy Newton betterPublished4 hours ago on November 05, 2024
The Melbourne Cup is billed as ‘The Race That Stops a Nation’ – however, for one lucky Australian punter the contest will now be remembered as the race that made them a millionaire – after scooping an incredible A$3.2m for picking the first four horses home.
Shock 2024 Melbourne Cup Result Wins Aussie Punter Over A$3m In Unbelievable Bet
Winning the Melbourne Cup is the stuff of dreams and this year’s renewal certainly had many.
Not only was it a first win in the race for trainer John Symons and a second for Sheila Laxon (won it in 2001 with Ethereal), it was also a debut success for jockey Robbie Dolan, who was bizarrely also a finalist on Australia’s The Voice – after he guided home outsider KNIGHT’S CHOICE.
But the Melbourne Cup ‘dream’ stories kept coming after the race, with one of these an Aussie punter that managed to win A$3.2m after successfully picking the first four horses home.
Knight’s Choice returned 90/1 with the best horse racing betting sites in the UK. The favourite Buckaroo would only manage 9th and the Willie Mullins-trained Vauban 11th.
2024 Melbourne Cup Result
- 1st – KNIGHT’S CHOICE (Robbie Dolan) – 90/1
- 2nd – Warp Speed (Akira Sugawara) – 25/1
- 3rd – Okita Soushi (Jamie Kah) – 18/1
- 4th – Zardozi (Andrea Atzeni) – 13/1
You can see the full 2024 Melbourne Cup result here.
The unreal wager had a total stake of just A$100 too, which equates to around £50 sterling, and was placed with Ladbrokes online on picking the first four horses to finish.
In a dramatic race, that had many leaders inside the final stages, the lucky horse racing punter wouldn’t have known they had a chance of winning until the very last stages – with Knight’s Choice getting up by just a short-head.
Ladbrokes told Racing.com “They boxed Knight’s Choice, Warp Speed, Okita Soushi and Zardozi and have turned their A$100 investment into A$3.2 million, which is already in their Ladbrokes account.
“The customer initially thought they had won A$780,000, so you can imagine their surprise when the full dividend was revealed. It’s a life-changing result and shows that anything can happen in the Melbourne Cup.”
The 2024 Melbourne Cup trifecta dividend on the Melbourne Cup was A$22,576.80 (£11,506.16), while the exacta dividend returned A$1,986.80 (£1,012.59).
WATCH: Knight’s Choice Winning The 2024 Melbourne Cup
Bet Also Wins Punter Wins Almost As Much As The Winning Horse
With the 2024 Melbourne Cup prize money standing at A$4.4m for the winning horse, this monster bet of A$3.2m also means they were only A$1.2m off what the successful connections of Knight’s Choice won.
Knight’s Choice is owned by C A Bain, Mrs K J Waldron and R A Waldron.
The winning jockey Robbie Dolan will also walk away with appox. 5% of the winning purse – around £117k. While the winning trainer will get roughly 10% – £234k.