Everything you need to know for Melbourne Cup

It's the race that stops the nation.

Melbourne Cup fever is coming fast and there's plenty you need to know beyond frilly hats and fancy frocks.

For one day every year, every Australian across the country suddenly becomes an armchair racing expert. On that first Tuesday in November, will you know your exactas from your quinellas? Your dead tracks from your fast tracks? What a handicap is?

If these questions are leaving you stuck behind the barrier, our guide will give make you an expert at any Melbourne Cup event.

So what's this punting business?

Part of what makes the big day on the first Tuesday in November so exciting is that, for most punters, it's their only foray into the world of betting for the year.

For many, a punt in the office sweeps is as good as it gets. While the odds of winning in the sweeps can be up to one in 24, with a little bit of know-how you can substantially increase your winnings with the serious stuff.

But how does it all work? Adam Hamilton from TAB Sportset gives us the rundown on the most popular betting types for the Melbourne Cup:

WIN: It’s the simple, old-fashioned way of backing your horse to win its race. In racing terms, it’s called “putting your money on the nose”. The horse must win for you collect.

PLACE: Another old-style and hugely popular way of betting. For you to collect, your horse needs to finish in the first three placings. Dividends a much smaller than backing the winner, but, then again, you’ve got three chances in every race for your horse to run a “place.”

EACH-WAY: This is a combination of a win and place bet. Many punters like it as insurance for a win bet. If your horse wins, you get the win and place dividend. It if finishes in the top three, you at least get some sort of collect through the place dividend.

TRIFECTA: A fantastic bet type during the Spring Carnival, especially if you pool some money with a group of friends. It involves picking the first three placegetters (in the correct order) in a selected race. There is always the option taking a “flexi” trifecta, which means if you successfully snare the trifecta you get a certain percentage of the dividend depending on how much you spend.

QUINELLA: Like the trifecta, but easier and so has a smaller dividend. It requires punters to pick the first two placegetters, but in ANY order. Nice option for the biggest races like the Melbourne Cup where the field has as many as 24 starters.

EXACTA: The same as the quinella, but this requires punters to pick the first two placegetters in the CORRECT order.

QUADDIE: One of my favourites. And another terrific option if you attending or watching the races with a group of friends. The Quaddie requires punters to pick the winners of four consecutive races. Sounds hard, but the dividends can be enormous. Pool your money, pick a few horses in each leg and hope you go the distance of all four legs. Then look to the nearest TV to see what you’ve collected.

How do you pick a winner?

But knowing how to bet is only half the battle - how in the world do you actually pick a winner?

Hamilton gives his run-down on the tactics you need to employ before the big day:

I’d love a dollar for the numbers of times I am asked during spring ‘who’s your Melbourne Cup tip?’ or ‘how do you pick the Melbourne Cup winner?’

Yes, it’s one of the hardest races of the year to punt on, but, at the same time, the dividends can enormous.

I love betting on the Melbourne Cup and think - after a year of doing it - I have fine-tuned some tactics which can help me find the winner.

Let’s start with the importance of watching two key lead-up races – the Caulfield Cup and the Geelong Cup.

If a local horse wins the Melbourne Cup, it will almost certainly have come through a lead-up run in one of those two races.

The X-factor in recent history of the Melbourne Cup has been the growing number of international raiders in the race, but more and more of then are going to the Melbourne Cup via either Caulfield or Geelong.

2011 winner Dunaden won at Geelong before repeating the dose on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington.

The other things I look for are:

• Horses who have contested the Melbourne Cup previously. There’s a strong history of horses improving in the Cup the second time they contest it, including last year's winner Fiorente, who finished second in 2012.
• Proven big race jockeys and trainers. No substitute for experience under racing’s most extreme pressure.
• Horses proven at the distance. The 3200m of the Melbourne Cup is as long as any race (other than jumping races) in Australia so many horses struggle to run the marathon trip out strongly.
• Check what the track is like. If it’s wet, you’ll need to look for horses which have proven they can handle that sought of surface.

What is handicapping?

In an effort to keep races as fair as possible, horses are given handicap weights depending on how well they’ve ridden in the past.

In simple terms, horses that have a history of being able to run faster are given a weights penalty to ensure there is as level a playing field as possible.

The main factors that go into deciding what a horse’s handicap weight is include speed, pace, form, class and post position.

Where a jockey’s weight doesn’t reach the required handicap, the competing horse is given extra weight in its saddles in the form of lead discs till the correct weights are met.

According to races.com.au, “the (Melbourne) Cup committee uses a ‘quality handicap’ formula where superior horses are given less severe weight penalties”.

Of the past 10 winners, eight have been allocated weights between 53kg and 56kg. Makybe Diva’s third win in 2005 with 58kg and Shocking’s win with just 51kg were the only two results outside of this range.

A little something you may not know...

There are a lot of factors that go into working out which horse has the advantage that go beyond recent form. The wetness of the track, the barrier that they draw and handicapping can all play a part

The most successful barricades in Melbourne Cup history are:
• Barrier 11 – 7 wins, last in 2001
• Barrier 14 – 6 wins, last in 2005
• Barrier 8 – 6 wins, last in 2010

Conversely, these barricades have been the worst in Melbourne Cup History:
• Barrier 18 – 0 wins
• Barrier 7 – 1 win, in 1924
• Barrier 15 – 1 win, in 1973

A little bit of trivia

- A record 16 Cup winners have the letter T as their first initial.

- Since saddle numbers were recorded since 1877, horses with even numbered have had a slight advantage over odd-numbered horses by 70 to 64.

- There have been 85 winners with single-word names, 61 winners with two-word names , while only five horses have won with a three-word moniker.

- Barrier 11 is the most successful for Melbourne Cup winners, while unlucky barrier 18 has not yet had a Cup winner.

- In the history of the Cup, 26 outright favourites have won, while seven equal favourites have taken the crown.

- The most successful odds have been $9 and $11 with 12 and 14 wins respectively, while only 16 horses have won with odds $31 or longer.