Yesterday
‘The fewer people who know what you’re doing, the better’
Joe McGrath spent 150 days on the road this year touring with the $600k Melbourne Cup. The key, he says, is knowing when to keep a low profile and when to wax lyrical.
- Gus McCubbing
The hottest invitation at the Cup – especially if you’re a foodie
The premier party zone at Flemington Racecourse is shaping up to be more Melbourne than ever – with a pop-up of Curtis Stone’s LA restaurant thrown in for good measure.
- Necia Wilden
This Month
Is this the toughest job in the Victoria Racing Club?
Forget the horses. Punters need track manager Liam O’Keeffe to deliver for them, too. And while he does his best, some things are simply beyond his control.
- Hannah Tattersall
Bookmaker asks for more time to process largest gambling payout ever
After the Pies and Panthers victories in the AFL and NRL over the weekend, online bookmaker Betr has begun the largest payout in sports gambling history.
- Updated
- Mark Di Stefano and Sam Buckingham-Jones
September
Bookmaker faces largest payout in sports gambling history
Sunday might be payday for tens of thousands of gamblers who have been sitting on potentially lucrative 100-1 bets on the Panthers for almost a year.
- Mark Di Stefano and Sam Buckingham-Jones
Nine alone in Melbourne Cup rights race after Seven withdraws
Seven West Media boss James Warburton told Tabcorp and the Victoria Racing Club the network would pull out of the Melbourne Cup bidding.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones and Zoe Samios
June
Network Ten quits race to broadcast Melbourne Cup from next year
The Paramount-owned broadcaster has aired the race for the last five years. Its exit leaves Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media competing for the rights.
- Zoe Samios
Melbourne Cup broadcast attracts low offers as Tabcorp plays hardball
Sources say the wagering group wants a 50 per cent share of all advertisements during the four-day carnival, while race organisers want to control commentary.
- Zoe Samios
April
News Corp’s Betr slapped with fine for 100-1 odds campaign
The fine from the NSW gambling regulator comes as questions are being raised about the future of the online bookmaker.
- Mark Di Stefano
January
- Exclusive
- Horse racing
Pub baron Bruce Dixon chances his hand in the thoroughbred game
The former Healthscope and Spotless executive hopes to house a future Melbourne Cup winner at Macedon Lodge after buying it from Lloyd Williams.
- Gus McCubbing
November 2022
Cup doesn’t bubble over for Melbourne restaurants as rates bite
Customers are still prepared to pay stiff prices for Cristal and caviar, but rising interest rates mean they more discerning than ever.
- Samantha Hutchinson
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Cup winners: start-up bookie Betr shares Flemington spotlight
Gold Trip won the race, but the story of the day was a business one.
- The AFR View
Flemington flooded by Cup Day desperados
It’s the race that stops the nation – only if misplaced baggage didn’t derail it in the first place.
- Samantha Hutchinson, Edmund Tadros and Michael Roddan
How the team behind bookie Betr won the Melbourne Cup twice
Few people had more riding on the race than bookmakers Matthew Tripp and Todd Buckingham. Both emerged triumphant – in very different ways.
- James Thomson
Shares rally as RBA keeps steady tightening pace
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 1.7 per cent to 6976.9. Fortescue raced 5.4 per cent higher to $15.50 and EML 30 per cent to 53¢.
- Vesna Poljak
Back to the drawing board for Macquarie (and Chanticleer)
Gold Trip wins, followed by Emissary and High Emocean; Not a good day for Macquarie’s quants or Chanticleer; polar blast and hail didn’t deter the punters (and the politicians). See how the race unfolded here.
- Updated
- Andrew Hobbs and James Thomson
Burke stares down miners IR campaign threat
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says a $20 million ad campaign won’t stop his IR bill push; Treasurer Jim Chalmers says inflation is the biggest challenge; Follow updates here.
- Updated
- Georgie Moore and David Marin-Guzman
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How a bookie became the big story of the Melbourne Cup
Start-up bookie Betr became the hot topic of the racing industry thanks to a risky marketing play designed to help it break into a lucrative sector.
- James Thomson
October 2022
Favourite hard to beat in this year’s Melbourne Cup: Mac Quant
Macquarie’s quant team beefs up quality factors for this year’s Cup, and is worried about the weather.
- Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Betr’s 100-to-1 odds promotion forces it to hedge bets with Tabcorp
The News Corp-backed bookmaker is aiming to cover huge potential losses that might arise from the start-up’s aggressive Melbourne Cup marketing.
- Mark Di Stefano and Anthony Macdonald
