Full prize money breakdown for the 2024 Melbourne Cup
The 2024 Melbourne Cup is worth a total of $8,560,000 and is the world's richest handicap horse race.
The race is now worth a total of $8.56 million, and the famous 18ct solid gold Hardy Brothers trophy is worth an extra $250,000. The total was increased from $7.3 million in 2019.
The winner of the Cup gets $4.4m of that pool, second place $1.1 million, third $550,000, fourth $350,000, fifth $230,000, and sixth to 12th $160,000.
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The champion jockey receives five per cent of the prize money and a miniature Melbourne Cup trophy worth $10,000.
Mark Zahra kisses the 2023 Melbourne Cup after riding Without A Fight to victory. Getty
Trainers receive 10 per cent of the prize money and a separate replica trophy, and the connections collect the rest (85 per cent).
The horse's strapper also gets a replica Melbourne Cup trophy valued at $5000.
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Each year two identical trophies are crafted in case there is a dead heat in the Cup, but that has never happened.
The first Melbourne Cup in 1861 was worth 750 pounds to the winner, plus a gold watch.