Australian Cup Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2026

The 2026 Australian Cup is a weight-for-age race for horses 3YO and over. The 2,000m trip is one of the biggest races at Flemington Racecourse over the Autumn Racing Carnival and will be held on Saturday 28th March. You’ll see some of the best horses the country has to offer to compete in the Australian Cup each year.

If you would like some quick facts about the Australian Cup, we’ve got you sorted! Check out the details here:

The 2026 Australian Cup will be held at Flemington Racecourse, its home and venue since the year 1863! That means there are well over 150 editions of the prestigious Australian Cup. Be sure to tune in on Saturday the 28th of March for one of Victoria and Australia’s grandest and most historical races on the Australian racing calendar.

This Australian Cup has seen the single biggest jump in prize money for an Australian Group 1 race. The already eye-watering $1.5 million that was up for grabs in the 2022 Australian Cup was doubled in 2023. However, since then, the prize money has been reduced slightly, so now the participants of the race will be competing for a share of $2.5 million! 

If the prize money does not make you want to tune in to the Australian Cup, maybe the absolutely stacked field will get you there. With some much at stake, we see the best of the best runners fight it out for Group 1 glory.

The Australian Cup is a weight-for-age race available to Australia’s best runners three years and older. This means a bunch of experienced thoroughbreds will come from all over the world, not just Australia, to battle it out and claim victory in the Australian Cup.

One of the top tracks in the country, Flemington Racecourse, will play home to the Australian Cup which is held at a distance of 2,000m. However, this was not always the case and we will go into more detail about this in our “History” section.

In addition to insights into the Australian Cup, we will also look at where and how to bet on the Australian Cup on this page. The Australian Cup is one of the biggest Group One races on the calendar, so we make sure to provide all the information you could ever need!

Please be sure to check the  OnlyRacing tips page closer to the race for a full set of fresh tips prepared by one of our other racing experts. With all that being said, we hope the information on this Australian Cup page assists you in your punting decisions and knowledge of Australian thoroughbred horse racing. 

Before we get into our Australian Cup tips, we thought you’d like to see a breakdown of the prize money for the race. Check out how the $2.5 million is split between the top finishers here:

There are many things the team at OnlyRacing loves, but one of the things that holds a special place in our hearts is free horse racing tips. Finding winners is a serious business and we only want the best for our loyal readers. We provide Flemington tips as well, so you'll never be left in the dark when it comes to tips.

To provide the best means we need to ensure our experts have all the information available to them before providing their tips. At this stage, our tips for the Australian Cup aren’t ready. We are holding off until race week, when the final field has been confirmed to provide all the details you’ve been looking for.

We know you came here for tips, so tips you shall find! Check out our 2025 Australian Cup tips here (we will replace them with our 2026 tips closer to race day):

Australian Cup Best Bet - Zardozi

While the current pre-race favourite, Pride Of Jenni, needs to be respected, I’m giving the top honours for the Australian Cup to Zardozi. The 4YO is on the third line of betting at the moment, going around with odds of $7.00. Remember, the favourite doesn’t have a good record here and only four favourites have won since 2004.

Zardozi comes through the Peter Young Stakes and she finished second to Pride Of Jenni but it looked like she was run off her feet early and took to the closing stages to really start getting going. Comes into this one fourth up, where her record is pretty good. Another that enjoys the Flemington straight and I don’t think Pride Of Jenni will get it all her way here.

Australian Cup Next Best - Pride Of Jenni

Pride Of Jenni was assigned as my next best for the 2024 Australian Cup and I’m slotting her in again for the race in 2025! She has to be respected and it looks to be an intriguing contest on Saturday. She had a few issues over the Spring, with a bleeding attack, but the stable looked after her and she came back with a bang last time out.

She won the Peter Young Stakes first up easily, by 2.3L to Zardozi. She gets the gun draw (barrier one) and loves a post-to-post victory, but looking at the speed map, it seems like Deny Knowledge (barrier three) might be going with her this time, which could result in her tiring in the closing stages. So the $2.70 favourite with PlayUp will have to work hard for it.

Australian Cup Best Roughie - Atishu

Completing the trifecta of mares for my 2025 Australian Cup tips is none other than Atishu. I tipped the 7YO as my best bet for the race in 2024 when she was on the second line of betting at $4.80, but she ended up finishing third, 2L off the pace. This year, the mare is going around with odds of $8.00 and she slots in as my best roughie.

We last saw the mare in the All-Star Mile, where she finished fifth, but I don’t think the race was set up well for her. She found the line late, so she’ll appreciate the step up to 2,000m. Loves the Flemington track, with multiple Group 1 victories here and she’s as fit as ever. I can see her winning this if others aren’t on their A-game.

The Australian Cup is one of the highlights of Victoria’s racing calendar and each year there are quality horses you can bet on. There are so many places you can pop on your bets. It’s betting apps galore in Australia and with so many horse racing betting sites to choose from it can actually become difficult to make a decision. 

However, we like to make things easy for you at OnlyRacing, so we go through all the top Australian betting sites and provide an in-depth review of them. With all that information at your fingertips, making a decision has never been easier!

Some of the bookies we think you’ll love, especially for the Australian Cup, are PlayUp, JungleBet and Betfocus. Shopping around and having multiple bookmaker accounts is a good idea because you can potentially find better odds for the same runner and claim more betting sites bonuses. 

All the best betting apps will have markets available for you to bet on the Australian Cup. Since the Australian Cup is a fairly major race, you’ll find markets are released well before race day. You can also take advantage of a range of betting promotions on offer from each bookie.

Betting on the Australian Cup may be daunting, but we have prepared a concise list of some of the best and most popular markets to bet on for the race at Flemington Racecourse. These markets include:

• Fixed Win
• Fixed Place
• Quinellas
• Exactas
• Trifectas
• First Fours
• Quaddies (for the whole card at Flemington Racecourse on the 29th of March 2026)
• Multi bets (once again, for the entirety of the meet at Flemington Racecourse

Each year, we will place our bets for the Australian Cup from this list of markets. There is something for everyone, so no matter if you are a regular or new punter, there’s a market that will tickle your fancy. You can check out all the bookies we have reviews on in our “Betting Sites” section earlier on this page.

The Australian Cup field always features some of the best horses Australia and the world have to offer. This is what we can expect to see again in the 2026 Australian Cup field. On top of this, if the odds are available for the Australian Cup, you can find all the details in our “Odds” section. This will give you a better idea of which runners are favoured for the race.

As the Australian Cup field hasn't been determined, you’ll see the odds constantly changing for every runner. Odd changes are a way of life in horse racing, so don’t be surprised if you see changes in the odds for your chosen runner.

While we wait for the 2026 Australian Cup field, let’s take a look back and check out the runners who took part in the 2025 race:

A small field lined up for the 2025 Australian Cup with just 10 runners confirmed. On top of this, we didn’t see any emergencies listed either, but this didn’t matter in the end as there weren’t any pre-race scratchings. This meant that all original 10 runners took their place in the starting barriers.

Pre-race scratchings are a fairly common occurrence in horse racing. Scratchings can happen at any time before the race and several factors result in a horse being scratched, like on vet’s advice, for example. If the horse you placed a bet on does get scratched, you will get your stake back, so it’s not all doom and gloom.

Something else we think is important to note when checking out the final field is the barrier draw. In the history of the Australian Cup, some barriers are more successful than others. As well as this, some horse’s race styles will suit a wider or inside barrier. The starting barrier can have a major impact on race tactics, so you should pay attention.

The Australian Cup is one of the oldest races on the calendar and this means there is a lot of data and patterns to be found. You don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting though as we go through the Australian Cup form guide and provide you with some of the key form indicators that you need to know.

Understanding the trends will hopefully point you in the direction of the winner. There’s no hiding when it comes to stats, so if you want to make a decision on who to bet with your head, check out some of the key form indicators!

The first thing we usually do is look into some of the best lead-up races and for the Australian Cup, there are several options to look into. The Group 1 CF Orr Stakes at Caulfield is one, which is usually run a few weeks before the Australian Cup. The Group 1 Carlyon Cup is run on the same day as the CF Orr Stakes and is another solid option.

You should also look into races like the Futurity Stakes and the Peter Young Stakes. In more recent times, horses use the All-Star Mile as their final hit out before tackling the Australian Cup and in 2025 we saw Light Infantry Man win the Australian Cup after finishing third in the All-Star Mile.

Unfortunately, for all you favourite backers out there, the favourites don’t have a good record in the Australian Cup. Since 2004, only four favourites have won, including the 2023 winner, Cascadian. Cascadian went back-to-back in 2024, but that year he wasn’t the favourite.

While there is a fairly even spread of starting barriers for the winner of the Australian Cup, no runner has won from barrier one in over 30 years! We don’t usually see mares tackling the Australian Cup which has resulted in only three mares winning the race since 1998, which include; Dane Ripper, Makybe Diva and Duais.

Some of the best-ever horses have gone on to win the Australian Cup. With a race that has such a rich history, there are so many Australian Cup horses that we can choose from. We only have a certain amount of space, so we can only talk about a handful of the best horses in this section.

Keep reading on to see which horses we have chosen to feature! Have we chosen the horses you were thinking of? Check out all the details here:

Malua - 1886

Yes, that’s right, we are going all the way back to the 1800s for our first featured Australian Cup horse! Malua was known as one of Australia’s most diverse thoroughbred horses and won the 1886 Australian Cup. Other Group 1 races the stallion won throughout his career included; the Melbourne Cup, the Newmarket Handicap and the Oakleigh Plate.

Ming Dynasty - 1978 & 1980

Ming Dynasty was a famous racehorse during the late 70’s and early 80’s. His most notable win would have to be the Caulfield Cup, a race he won twice, in 1977 and 1980. Speaking of races he won twice, he won the Australian Cup twice, in 1978 and 1980. At the end of his career, he finished with a record of 76:17-12-9.

Better Loosen Up - 1991

Better Loosen Up proved too good for his rivals and won the 1991 Australian Cup, the same year he was named Australian Horse of the Year. In 2004, Better Loosen was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. He ended his career with almost $5 million in prize money thanks to a record of 45:17-9-3.

Saintly - 1996

In 1996, Saintly went on to win the Australian Cup and the very next year the gelding was named Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year. Also in 1996, Saintly won the biggest race of them all, the Melbourne Cup! As well as these two major Group 1 wins, Saintly also won the Cox Plate and CF Orr Stakes.

Makybe Diva - 2005

Makybe Diva won many races in her career, so it's understandable if you forgot she won the Australian Cup as well! She is known for one main reason, winning the Melbourne Cup three years in a row. She won many awards throughout her career and also has a Group 1 race named after her the Makybe Diva Stakes.

Fiorente - 2014

Fiorente was bred in Ireland and tasted success in both Europe and Australia. A year before his Australian Cup victory, Fiorente also won the Melbourne Cup. Fiorente was also named Australian Champion Stayer in 2014. He had a career record of 20:6-4-2 and amassed over $6 million in prize money.

With a race as popular as the Australian Cup, it’s no surprise that people will want to get on their bets as soon as possible. This is why many bookies, including our favourite bookie, PlayUp, will release odds as soon as they can for the race.

While PlayUp is our favourite bookie at the moment, it can pay to shop around as you may find different horse racing betting apps offering different odds for the same runner. Shopping around is the easiest way to get more bang for your buck. 

If you’re new to the world of horse racing, it’s important to note that there are many horse racing markets to choose from. On top of this, you’ll probably notice that the odds are constantly changing. Many different factors go into an odds change, so we recommend if you like a price that’s being offered, that you jump on as soon as you can.

We wait for PlayUp to release their 2026 Australian Cup odds, but we can take a look back to 2025 and see how the runners stacked up:

*Odds correct as of 27/03/2025.

The Australian Cup has a deep and rich history that spans many, many decades. The race forms part of the Autumn Racing Carnival in Australia, which is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals on the calendar. There have been many interesting facts about the race which we will go into more detail in this section.

In 2007, the Australian Cup was run at Caulfield Racecourse due to the home of the race, Flemington Racecourse, undergoing major renovations to match the grand upgrades that had taken place on a couple of the New South Wales prestigious tracks. These include Randwick Racecourse and Rosehill Racecourse.  

We have experienced two first-race dead heats in the Australian Cup’s history (we will explain later what a first-race dead heat in the Australian Cup means). These occurred in the 1912 and 1969 iterations of the Australian Cup.

First occurring in the 1912 edition of the Australian Cup, a dead heat between stalwart runners Saxonite and Prizefighter saw the first-ever race in Australian Cup history to result in a tied first place for two different runners. Secondly, the 1969 edition of the Australian Cup showcased a belter of a race which resulted in a dead heat between Yootha and Cyron.

The most spectacular race in the history of the Australian Cup that we stumbled upon during our research for this page was the 1872 Australian Cup. This was the first dead heat in the history of the Australian Cup. However, back then, dead heat races were re-run until a true victor showed itself. 

Upon the first re-run after the dead heat, another dead heat occurred, sending the 1872 Australian Cup to a third race to decide its victor. Finally, Saladin beat out Flying Dutchman to hoist the trophy and claim a historic victory in the Australian Cup.

The 2016 Australian Cup saw Awesome Rock finish first at Flemington Racecourse, however upon review, Awesome Rock was deduced to have caused interference. This resulted in Preferment being crowned champion of the 2016 Australian Cup.

Many other races have just as much history as the Australian Cup, so if you’d like to learn more about them check out our Group One races list. We go into detail on over 100 races and you can take your pick from some of the biggest races on the Australian racing calendar.

The question on everyone’s lips - who won the 2026 Australian Cup? Well, we don’t actually know the answer to that question just yet, seeing though the race hasn’t been run. But if anyone has a crystal ball and can look into the future to see the results, please let us know! What we do know are the results of the Australian Cup in 2025!

For the 2025 Australian Cup, we saw the Ciaron Maher-trained Light Infantry Man claim victory. The gelding jumped from barrier four and ended up winning by 2L to Deny Knowledge. Deny Knowledge was paying $11 before the race and jumped from barrier three.

Zardozi filled in the final minor placing, finishing 2.4L off the pace. Meanwhile, the pre-race favourite, Pride Of Jenni, finished down in ninth. In the end, the 2025 Australian Cup was run in a time of 2:00.41 and there was a total of 17.7L that split the first and last runners across the finishing line.

Check out the full Australian Cup results here:

You’ve read the table, now it’s time for the good stuff! The full video replay of the race, so you can relive the action of the Australian Cup. Check it out here:

While we have seen a few dead heats in the past for the Australian Cup, we generally only see one winner each year! We’ve listed all the result Australian Cup winners here (from 2010 onwards):

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the Australian Cup page, but before you’re a certified expert on this Group 1 race, we’ve got some final FAQs for you. Check out some of the common questions and answers here: