BOOKIES are bracing themselves for a monstrous Melbourne Cup mauling worth a whopping £27.5million.
Huge favourite Incentivise is poised to dish out a battering to bookies worth around £140,000 a second.
The two-mile contest – which is normally won around the 3min 20sec mark – held at 4am UK time on Tuesday is known as the ‘race that stops a nation’.
But it could be the race that wipes out the bookmakers if the Peter Moody-trained favourite does the business.
Already some £3.3m has been paid out to punters who backed the horse before the race.
One shrewd bettor was celebrating to the tune of £28,000 after seeing a double which also included Incentivise winning this month’s Caulfield Cup land.
Others were £16,600 and £14,200 better off respectively after SportsBet decided to settle bets more than a week before the actual race.
Unbeaten superstar Incentivise was as short as 5-4 with some firms but is currently 15-8 with Paddy Power.
Should he succeed then he will be the shortest-priced winner since the legendary Phar Lap in 1930, some 91 years ago.
Ladbrokes boss Dean Shannon said: “It is shaping as our worst result on the Melbourne Cup since we started trading in Australia.
“Incentivise is one of those horses that punters latched onto early and have just kept backing, and he just kept winning.
“Racing needs a superstar like him, but that’s no good if you’re the bookmaker on the wrong end of the ledger.
“The doubles alone are a couple of million and that doesn’t take into account what is in the win book.
“We just want to find something to beat him, but to be honest we can’t find one.”
A small slither of hope for the bookies is that Incentivise has never raced over this far, while only horse has won carrying 57kg or more.
Incentivise will carry a penalty of 57kg on the day.
Bluebet’s Michael Sullivan said: “He is very good, Incentivise, and might be the best stayer we have seen in Australia this century and he has found the weakest Melbourne Cup I can remember.
“They can all get beaten and we are hoping he will find a way to get him beaten.
“Surely, he can’t win. History is against him and so are we.”
Another who will be hoping the market is wrong is Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien.
The two-time winner of the Cup made a last-minute dash to Australia overnight.
He trains defending champion and 12-1 shot Twilight Payment, while Andrew Balding has 13-2 second-favourite Spanish Mission.
FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to SE. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chases their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
