2025 Melbourne Cup Tips - Odds, draw and two roughie selections
The 2025 Melbourne Cup promises excitement with a capacity field of 24 horses. This guide offers insights into odds, final field line-up, and expert betting tips. Top contenders include Royal Supremacy, whose chances could be enhanced by forecasted heavy rain, historically beneficial for European horses. Despite a wide draw and carrying a heavier weight, Royal Supremacy's past performance suggests strong potential. Arapaho, another contender, is favored for his past success in similar conditions. Fans worldwide can access the live stream to witness the suspense unfold.
- Odds, draw and betting predictions for the 2025 Melbourne Cup
- "The race that stops a nation" takes place at Flemington on November 4th
- We've backed Royal Supremacy and Arapaho at huge prices
Horse racing's most valuable handicap takes place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, as a capacity field of 24 enter the stalls ahead of the 2025 Melbourne Cup.
Millions of racing fans from around the world will tune in to watch "the race that stops a nation". Here's our free guide to the 2025 Melbourne Cup, including our best betting tips.
2025 Melbourne Cup Odds
| Name | Odds |
|---|---|
| Half Yours | 6/1 |
| Valiant King | 7/1 |
| Pressage Nocturne | 7/1 |
| Al Riffa | 8/1 |
| Buckaroo | 8/1 |
| River Of Stars | 14/1 |
| Absurde | 16/1 |
| Bar | 20/1 |
2025 Melbourne Cup Final Field
| No. | Name | Trainer | Jockey | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Riffa (FR) | Joseph O’Brien | Mark Zahra | 59kg |
| 2 | Buckaroo (GB) | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 57kg |
| 3 | Arapaho (FR) | Bjorn Baker | Rachel King | 56.5kg |
| 4 | Vauban (FR) | G. Waterhouse & A. Bott | Blake Shinn | 56.5kg |
| 5 | Chevalier Rose (JPN) | Hisashi Shimizu | Damian Lane | 55.5kg |
| 6 | Presage Nocturne (IRE) | Alessandro Botti | Stéphane Pasquier | 55.5kg |
| 7 | Middle Earth (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Ethan Brown | 54.5kg |
| 8 | Meydaan (IRE) | Simon & Ed Crisford | James McDonald | 54kg |
| 9 | Absurde (FR) | Willie Mullins | Kerrin McEvoy | 53.5kg |
| 10 | Flatten The Curve (FR) | Henk Grewe | Thore Hammer Hansen | 53.5kg |
| 11 | Land Legend (FR) | Chris Waller | Joao Moreira | 53.5kg |
| 12 | Smokin’ Romans (NZ) | Ciaron Maher | Ben Melham | 53.5kg |
| 13 | Changingoftheguard (IRE) | Kris Lees | Tim Clark | 53kg |
| 14 | Half Yours | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Jamie Melham | 53kg |
| 15 | More Felons (IRE) | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 53kg |
| 16 | Onesmoothoperator (USA) | Brian Ellison | Harry Coffey | 53kg |
| 17 | Furthur (IRE) | Andrew Balding | Michael Dee | 52kg |
| 18 | Parchment Party (USA) | William Mott | John Velazquez | 52kg |
| 19 | Athabascan (FR) | J. O’Shea & T. Charlton | Declan Bates | 51.5kg |
| 20 | Goodie Two Shoes (IRE) | Joseph O’Brien | Wayne Lordan | 51.5kg |
| 21 | River Of Stars (IRE) | Chris Waller | Beau Mertens | 51.5kg |
| 22 | Royal Supremacy (IRE) | Ciaron Maher | Robbie Dolan | 51kg |
| 23 | Torranzino (NZ) | Paul Preusker | Celine Gaudray | 51kg |
| 24 | Valiant King (GB) | Chris Waller | Jye McNeil | 51kg |
2025 Melbourne Cup Tip 1 - Royal Supremacy
Rain features heavily in the weather forecast for Sunday and Monday. So much so, that some media outlets in Australia are predicting that Tuesday's Melbourne Cup could even be run on heavy ground.
Such conditions would surely swing the balance in favour of the European shippers - or horses who were once trained in the UK, Ireland and France.
It's been over half a century since a horse won both the Metropolitan and the Melbourne Cup, but I'm hopeful that ROYAL SUPREMACY (33/1) could buck that trend. Ciaran Maher's four-year-old carried a featherweight into that 12-furlong handicap, and stayed on strongly to hold a decent field at bay.
Royal Supremacy ran up to a good level for Andrew Balding in 2024, placing a close second to Ancient Wisdom in the Bahrain Trophy on his final start in the UK. Following a year off the track, Maher's recruit made a winning start to life in Australia with a soft-ground win in the Wyong Cup, before scoring in the Met two starts later.
Robbie Dolan's mount endured a luckless passage on his most recent outing in the Caulfield Cup, staying on from the rear to finish two-and-a-half lengths behind Half Yours in fifth. A wide draw out in stall 21 might not be ideal, but I certainly think Royal Supremacy has the form and class to outrun his odds.
2025 Melbourne Cup Draw
| Stall | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Athabascan |
| 2 | Vauban |
| 3 | Parchment Party |
| 4 | Absurde |
| 5 | Chevalier Rose |
| 6 | Onesmoothoperator |
| 7 | Further |
| 8 | Half Yours |
| 9 | Pressage Nocturne |
| 10 | Valiant King |
| 11 | Smokin' Romans |
| 12 | Buckaroo |
| 13 | Middle Earth |
| 14 | River Of Stars |
| 15 | Arapaho |
| 16 | Land Legends |
| 17 | Flatten The Curve |
| 18 | Torranzino |
| 19 | Al Riffa |
| 20 | Goodie Two Shoes |
| 21 | Royal Supremacy |
| 22 | Meydaan |
| 23 | More Felons |
| 24 | Changingoftheguard |
2025 Melbourne Cup Tip 2 - Arapaho
Four and five-year-olds boast the best record in the Melbourne Cup, but plenty of older horses have claimed victory down the years. One of the oldest runners in this year's field is ARAPAHO (50/1), who finished eleventh behind Gold Trip in the 2022 Melbourne Cup.
Since then, Arapaho has only run over two miles twice. Bjorn Baker's charge finished fourth in the 2023 Sydney Cup, before going three better with an emphatic victory in this year's renewal of that lucrative handicap.
Somehow, Rachel King's mount then managed to finish a fairly close third behind Via Sistina in the Winx Stakes, where the heavy ground brought Arapaho's stamina to the fore. Baker's eight-year-old hasn't been competitive in four starts since then, but did catch the eye when staying on from the rear to finish eighth in the Bendigo Cup six days ago.
Like our first selection, Arapaho has landed a wide draw out in stall 15, and only Al Riffa and Buckaroo will carry more weight. Yet, King's mount has won big handicaps and Graded races on testing ground, so Baker would love as much rain to fall at Flemington as possible.
Live Stream
Visit our Melbourne Cup Live Stream page if you want to watch this historic race via a mobile or tablet.
Verdict
2025 Melbourne Cup Selections:
Royal Supremacy E/W
2025 Melbourne Cup Tip 1
@33/1 - 5 Units
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Arapaho E/W
2025 Melbourne Cup Tip 2
@50/1 - 5 Units
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