2025 Melbourne Cup tips: Predictions, betting guide and odds for Flemington
Racing correspondent Jonathan Doidge brings us his best bets for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup Tip
Al Riffa (Flemington, 04.00) – 1pt each-way @ 6/1 (bet365)
There’s another fascinating Melbourne Cup in prospect, with 24 runners tackling a Group 1 handicap (still a concept that has us Brits scratching our heads), with more than £2.25m going to the winner.
Half Yours is the ante-post favourite on betting sites and that’s no surprise after the five-year-old won the Caulfield Cup (1m4f, good) a couple of weeks ago. Plenty of that day’s field reoppose him here, including the second, River Of Stars, the third, Valiant King and the fourth, Presage Nocturne.
Jamie Melham brought the favourite from way back in the field that day and he comes here unexposed over the extra half-mile trip, with just a 5lb penalty to shoulder. Other than the weight of recent history (no favourite has won this in the past decade), he looks to have strong claims and will have plenty of home support.
Absurde has proved a thorough stayer for the Willie Mullins team and he can’t be discounted but ideally he would probably want slightly slower conditions to be seen to best effect. He should be in the shake-up for the prize money and was seventh in this two years ago and a close fifth behind Knight’s Choice in last year’s renewal.
I like the look of the claims of AL RIFFA. Trainer Joseph O’Brien won this race in both 2017 with Rekindling and 2020 with Twilight Payment and in Al Riffa, he has a Classic winner who is still on the way up.
It was pretty clear after he ran so well in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot that they’d be considering this route and since then he dotted up in the Group 2 Curragh Cup (1m6f, good) in July and produced another smooth, improved success in the Group 1 Irish St Leger.
He may have topweight to shoulder here but he’s a major player, with this extra two furlongs looking well within his compass. He was bought by an Australian bloodstock agent just before that Irish Leger win and I think we’re about to see why. He’s backable each-way at the current prices on horse racing betting sites.
Melbourne Cup tip: Al Riffa (Flemington, 04.00) – 1pt each-way @ 6/1 (bet365)
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