Australian Cup: Date, how to watch, past winners & more

The Australian Cup is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and above which takes place at Flemington Racecourse in March.

Hosted by the Victorian Racing Club, the Australian Cup is raced under weight for age conditions over 2000m, and attracts a stellar field.

That is no surprise with a total prize pot of $3million up for grabs and Mr Brightside is the hot fancy to land the bulk of it in 2024.

Here is our guide to the Australian Cup, one of the oldest horse races in Australia.

Australian Cup date

The Australian Cup is part of the Victoria Racing Club Autumn Racing Carnival and takes place in March each year.

The 2024 edition will be raced on Saturday 30th March.

The Australian Cup clashes with the Group 1 Tancred Stakes and Vinery Stud Stakes, which take place at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney on the same day.

It is also raced two weeks after the All Star Mile.

Australian Cup time

The exact start time for the Australian Cup has yet to be announced, but in 2023 it was Race 7 on a bumper card.

Australian Cup location

The Australian Cup will be raced at the iconic Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

In 2007 the Australian Cup was switched to Caulfield Racecourse as a one-off, due to refurbishments at Flemington.

Australian Cup how to watch

Australian Cup will be shown free-to-air on Channel 7.

Australian Cup history

The Australian Cup has a long and proud history and is one of the oldest races in Australia.

It was first raced in 1863 and won by horse named Barwon.

The Australian Cup was once the longest premier race in Australia at 3621m, longer than the Melbourne Cup.

Over the years, the Australian Cup has gradually been reduced to 2000m in attempt to attract a top-class middle-distance field.

The Australian Cup has flipped between being a handicap and weight for age, but has been the latter since 1987.

It has also been a Group 1 race from 1979.

Australian Cup prize money

The total prize money pot for the Australian Cup stands at a cool $3million.

The winner of the Australian Cup will pick up $1.8million, while second wins $540,000, third $270,000.

Sixth, seventh and eighth all pick up $60,000 for their efforts.

Australian Cup past winners

Cascadian was the winner of the 2023 Australian Cup for trainer James Cummings and jockey Ben Melham.

There have been plenty of notable winners over the years, but Harlem is the horse that stands out in recent times.

Harlem went back-to-back, winning the Australian Cup in both 2018 and 2019.

Australian Cup odds

Mr Brightside is the talk of the town at the moment and is the hot fancy at 2.75 to continue his winning streak in the Australian Cup.

Atishu and Gold Trip can both be backed at 6.50 to upset the apple cart and take the win.