Melbourne Cup turnover of $229 million second only to 2025 record
Betting on the 2026 Melbourne Cup reached $229 million, the second-highest turnover on the race, 7.4 per cent below last year’s record.
Punters bet $229 million on this year’s Melbourne Cup, the second-highest turnover on the race on record, the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) confirmed in its review of this year’s four-day Flemington carnival.
The figure is $18.4 million, or about 7.4 per cent, below the record $247.4 million wagered on the 2025 Cup.
That record came after turnover on the race had fallen to $215.7 million in 2023 and $214 million in 2024.
This year’s result tops every other year in the Racing Victoria figures published before the Cup, including $221.6 million in 2020, $225.8 million in 2021 and $226 million in 2022.
The VRC said turnover on TAB Champions Stakes Day also rose year-on-year, led by its three Group 1 races. No firm figures were provided on this data.
Data was not released for the entirety of Melbourne Cup day, which last year generated $382.5m.
On course, the Melbourne Cup Carnival recorded 307,889 attendances at Flemington, up 7.4 per cent on 2025 and 21,143 more than last year.
It was the largest total since 2017, when 310,608 attended. Attendance rose on all four days. Cup Day drew 97,112, up 12,739 and the biggest Cup Day crowd since 2016. Derby Day’s 88,146 was its best since 2018, Oaks Day’s 52,217 its best since 2019, and Champions Stakes Day’s 70,414 its highest since 2012.
The VRC said people aged 35 and under bought 60 per cent of general admission tickets, up from 53 per cent in 2025.
VRC chief executive Kylie Rogers linked the crowd figures to the sentiment across the wider industry.
“The 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival has been an outstanding success, with our largest Carnival attendance since 2017 and our biggest Lexus Melbourne Cup Day crowd in a decade highlighting the strong momentum behind both the Carnival and the broader racing industry,” she said.
The carnival follows the VRC’s return to profit in FY26. The club posted a $5.4 million net profit, its first since FY20, and credited the result partly to the 2025 carnival.
The VRC is yet to publicly release the full annual report.
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