It’s the biggest horse race in Australia and millions watch the race on a TV screen, tablet or smartphone.
Every year millions stop and watch the race on a portable device, last year over 1,5 million people logged into Telstra’s coverage.
Three-time winning jockey Damien Oliver knows he is up against a tough field in his 26th Melbourne Cup.
Oliver is trying for a fourth Cup win, on the Gai Waterhouse-trained The Offer at Flemington today.
“It’s a tough race this year,” he said. “There’s many chances, I think, and there’s a lot of jockeys going into the race thinking they’ve got a chance to win it.
“It’s going to be a very competitive race.”
Japanese galloper Fame Game is the short-priced favourite, but heavy support has come for English trainer Ed Dunlop’s Trip To Paris, the stablemate of crowd favourite and three-time runner-up Red Cadeaux.
The three are among a record-equalling 11 contenders trained overseas.
The existing record was set in the 2011 Melbourne Cup, which was won by French stayer Dunaden. Six of the first seven placings that year were filled by horses trained abroad.
Of the 24 runners this year only one, Sertorius, was bred in Australia.
William Hill has embarked on an internal technology upgrade in time for this year’s Melbourne Cup, as it anticipates a 20 to 50 per cent increase in bets on its online platforms.
Last year’s Melbourne Cup was the first time the betting company had recorded more than 1 million transactions in 24 hours and this year it is forecasting up to 1.5 million.
