Big odds available as bookmakers struggle to price Melbourne Cup 2018

It may be billed as the race that stops a nation but that could be seen as a little harsh on the Melbourne Cup with the eyes of the sporting world focused on the result. Australia’s most famous horse race renews on November 6th this year and the ante-post betting patterns suggest we’re set for another fascinating contest.

Run over two miles on the turf of Flemington Racecourse, its roots can be traced way back to 1861 when Archer won for Etienne de Mestre and John Cutts. That trio also provided the winning team 12 months later.

156 years later and we saw Rekindling win the same race, but much had changed with over 7,000,000 Australian Dollars in prize money paid out. Who will join that exclusive list this autumn?

Traders seem at a loss to nail down a favourite with some big prices available in the Melbourne cup betting 2018. William Hill, for example, are offering Johannes Vermeer at 17/2 for this running but few appear to agree to the same extent.

Question marks over favourite Chestnut Coat

Chestnut Coat is favourite going into summer, but it remains to be seen if the Japan-bred star will run in the race at all. There are bits and pieces of 16/1 going around but many leading bookmakers don’t have Yoshiti Yahagi’s four-year-old quoted at all and punters may prefer to give him a wide berth until the route becomes clear.

One that makes plenty more appeal is last year’s victor Rekindling who is fancied for a crack at two-in-a-row. Joseph O’Brien’s colt stretched his CV to three wins and two seconds from eight starts when landing glory at Flemington off a stunning 12/1 SP. The three-year-old beat Aidan O’Brien’s runner-up Johannes Vermeer but we’ve seen very little for him since. He’s a chunky 20/1 to repeat the feat.

Handicappers could rule out Rekindling defence

Successful trainer Lloyd Williams had the one-two last year but when speaking to the racing media recently he refused to give too much away on either Rekindling or Johannes Vermeer. The Australian property developer thought his duo would receive too much weight from the handicappers this year and hinted they may be put on a different track. Could that be mind games to throw the opposition off?

Odds-makers certainly aren’t in the mood to have the wool pulled over their eyes and were taking no chances when chalking Johannes Vermeer up fourth in the list at 25/1. This proves the beauty of ante-post betting. Think Vermeer will run in the race? He has a better chance than his current price suggests. There will be players happy to take a punt at the value while others will prefer to wait on confirmation and take less of a price.