The Melbourne Cup is billed as ‘The Race That Stops The Nation’, but the 2023 Flemington Park renewal was also a race that stopped the UK bookmakers paying out millions as the well-fancied Willie Mullins-trained Vauban could only manage 14th place.
- Vauban saves bookmakers around the world millions
- One Vauban $230,00 bet goes astray
- Bookie dodges bullet after refusing $400k Vauban bet
- Punter wins $600k on Without A Fight wager
- Key Melbourne Cup trends upheld by the winner
- Melbourne Cup result: Where the all the 23 runners finished
Vauban Melbourne Cup Flop Means Big Payday For Bookmakers Around The World
The Willie Mullins-trained Vauban was billed by many as the 2023 Melbourne Cup banker, having been backed in from 66/1 last year to just 2/1 hours before the big Australian 2 mile race – meaning huge liabilities for the horse racing betting sites around the world.
Despite a small drift before post time, Vauban still went off as the 9/2 favourite and now with millions riding on his back, bookmakers were preparing themselves for a huge payout. But with the Ryan Moore-ridden 5 year-old only managing 14th (watch below) all bets were off and the layers around the globe, including many in the UK and Ireland, were celebrating.
Neil Roarty “The biggest winners in Australia were actually the UK and Irish betting firms, who had built up huge liabilities on Vauban, originally a 66/1 shot but went off at 11/4. The fact that Willie Mullins runner wasn’t even placed meant even small each way bets weren’t rewarded, meaning a multi million pound victory for the layers”
The SportsLens odds team have also come up with some prices on what might be next for Vauban – see them here.
One Bet Of $230k Placed On Vauban To Win The Melbourne Cup
On the day, it was also reported there were bets of $230,000 (at $4.80) and $200,000 (at $5.00) placed on the versatile 5 year-old.
Plus, with Vauban also being trained in Ireland and having a big following in the UK, after past wins at the Cheltenham and Royal Ascot, then punters in Europe were also heavily backing the Rich Ricci-owned horse before the race.
These included well-known ITV pundit Matt Chapman, who told his readers pre-race that ‘Vauban looks an absolute banker’
It was also revealed that an Australian gambler was waiting on Vauban for a big $1m five-leg accumulator to land with the first four picks all winning.
The Ladbrokes player had placed a $1000 bet on a five-leg acca back in September that ironically included the eventual Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight taking the Caulfield Cup two weeks ago.
But the punter ditched Without A Fight in favor of Vauban for the big Flemington Park race on November 7th – a decision that would have cost them just shy of $1m.
However, despite most of the bookmakers cracking open the champagne with Vauban losing – one Aussie bookmaker will be kicking themselves, as a proposed bet of $400,00 at $5 odds was refused by the layer – meaning that punter dodged a big Melbourne Cup bullet there.
Gold Trip Was Another Big Winner For The Layers
As well as Vauban being well-backed for the 2023 Melbourne Cup, the other horse that attracted a lot of pre-race interest was last year’s winner Gold Trip.
This Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained 6 year-old was bidding to become the first back-to-back winner since Makybe Diva won the Melbourne Cup three times between 2003 and 2005.
He was sent off as the 11/2 second favourite, with Aussie punters hoping that history would be able to repeat itself.
However, just like Vauban, Gold Trip failed to turn up and ended up finishing three places behind the Willie Mullins horse in 17th, meaning more joy for the bookies.
Melbourne Cup Winner ‘Without A Fight’ Fancied Pre-Race In The Betting
With the bookmakers seeing Vauban and last year’s winner Gold Trip slipping back down the Flemington Park straight, all that was left for the layers was to see which horse was going to win – knowing that any result now would be a winning one.
Of course, a double-figure priced winner would have been the icing on the cake for the bookies, but punters managed to ease the blow with the third in the betting, Without A Fight, powering away to win the race by 2 ¼ lengths under jockey Mark Zahra at 7/1.
Without A Fight was following up his Caulfield Cup win just over two weeks earlier and having won these two lucrative Australian races landed over £4m in prize money from these two contests alone.
The 6-year-old’s win also meant he became the twelfth horse to do the Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double and the first since Ethereal in 2001.
There were reported bets on the winner of $20,000 and $22,500 and $7.50 odds – which netted these lucky punters $150,000 and $168,750.
While Aussie online sportsbook TAB also revealed a last-minute $80,000 wager on Without A Fight at $7.50 – meaning a monster $600,000 payday.
Melbourne Cup Big Race Trends Upheld With Without A Fight Winning
Horse racing trends followers were also tipping their hats to the recent Melbourne Cup stats that have built up after Without A Fight won the race.
One of the big trends over the last 19 years is based around the draw. A massive 17 of the last 19 winners had hailed from gates five or higher – which was a huge stat against Vauban in stall three.
Add in that 84% of the last 19 winners had raced within the last four weeks, then this was another negative trend for Vauban, who was last out 92 days prior to his Melbourne Cup flop.
And, finally, with 16 of the past 19 successful horses also having raced at Flemington, Geelong, Caulfield or Moonee Valley – this was yet another Melbourne Cup stat that the Willie Mullins hot-pot Vauban would need to kick into touch.
The winner Without A Fight, however, ticked all three of these key Flemington Park trends having raced just over two weeks ago, being drawn in stall 16 and being in action at Caulfield in his most recent race.
Melbourne Cup 2023 Result In Full: Where Did Each Horse Finish?
You can see the full Melbourne Cup result here and where each of the 23 runners finished.
1st Without A Fight 7-1
2nd Soulcombe 17-2
3rd Sheraz 150-1
4th Ashrun 25-1
5th Daqiansweet Junior 50-1
6th Interpretation 40-1
7th Absurde 8-1
8th True Marvel 150-1
9th Vow And Declare 30-1
10th Military Mission 25-1
11th Okita Soushi 100-1
12th More Felons 25-1
13th Lastotchka 25-1
14th Vauban 9-2
15th Future History 17-1
16th Breakup 17-1
17th Gold Trip 11-2
18th Virtuous Circle 150-1
18th Virtuous Circle 150-1
19th Serpentine 40-1
20th Kalapour 40-1
21st Alenquer 20-1
22nd Magical Lagoon 100-1
23rd Right You Are 30-1 (Pulled up)
WATCH: The Full Re-Run Of The 2023 Melbourne Cup
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