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Melbourne Cup 2025 Betting Tips - Deakin can deliver

Alex Marsh

Editor

Last updated: 04 Mar 2025

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Alex Marsh 04 Mar 2025

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Melbourne Cup offers $8 million prize, attracting top international stayers
Top Bets: Deakin, impressive debut; Gilded Water, promising Australian prep; Revelare, consistent summer form
Betting favourites: Via Sistina leads the odds at $15

Is Deakin a Melbourne Cup contender? (Getty)

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most renowned race, carrying prize money of $8 million and attracting some of the world's best international stayers to Flemington for the 3200m handicap.

2025 Melbourne Cup Tips
Melbourne Cup 2025 Betting Odds
Melbourne Cup Winners

Iconic thoroughbreds have taken their place and won this great event including Kingston Rule, Subzero, Doriemus, Might And Power, and of course the one and only Makybe Diva.

At $15 with TopSport, Via Sistina heads the 2025 Melbourne Cup market.

2025 Melbourne Cup Tips

2025 Melbourne Cup Best Bet - Deakin

This European import has been impressive in his first Australian campaign, which opened with an unlucky debut attempt before a 2000m Pakenham win second-up.

Staying at 10-furlongs worked against Deakin third-up, although he only found one better in what was a decent class rise and he then relished 2500m at The Valley.

The five-year-old couldn't have been more impressive in the Torney Cup, where he recorded a 5.5-length victory and that Listed win gave him a decent ratings boost.

Deakin appears likely to contest the Adelaide and/or Sydney Cups over autumn and with improvement to come, he's a leading local hope for the 2025 Melbourne Cup.

2025 Melbourne Cup Next Best Bet - Gilded Water

Bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II and he's owned by King Charles III, Gilded Water impressed throughout his first Australian prep for trainer Ciaron Maher.

The progressive four-year-old has only completed seven starts and while he wasn't disgraced, he has been given time after failing in a hat-trick bid at Rosehill in January.

The gelding landed good bets via his Down Under debut and he beat Alalance in the process, a fellow import who was stakes placed at Randwick via his next appearance.

Gilded Water will need make a decent climb in the ratings to make a Melbourne Cup field, but with a prep under the belt here, he's got the platform to progress further.

2025 Melbourne Cup Value Bet - Revelare

He's been one of the in-form horses in Melbourne over Summer, with the gelding completing a five-peat on March 1 at Flemington and he's moving through the grades.

Prepared by Robert Hickmott, who has prepared two Melbourne Cup winners, Revelare has succeeded off both slow and fast tempos, while he's also tactically versatile.

The son of So You Think hasn't been tried past 2000m, given he has been learning the caper as a lightly raced horse, but he's likely to be given his chance over further.

Breeding suggests that he can stay the longer trips, with Revelare being out of a Zabeel mare who won at 2400m and his grandam (Honor Babe) was a Sydney Cup winner.

Melbourne Cup 2025 Betting Odds

Horse	Odds
Via Sistina	$15.00
Buckaroo	$17.00
Vauban	$19.00
Ceolwulf	$26.00
Duke De Sessa	$26.00
Goliath	$26.00
Middle Earth	$26.00
Redentor	$26.00
Soulcombe	$26.00
The Euphrates	$26.00
Deakin	$31.00
Powers Of Opal	$31.00
Sea King	$31.00
Treasurethe Moment	$31.00
Warp Speed	$31.00
Jan Brueghel	$34.00
Okita Sushi	$34.00
Without A Fight	$34.00
Zardozi	$34.00
Others	$41.00+