Cups carnival rakes it in

MELBOURNE’S spring carnival continues to flourish.

Attendance, wagering and viewing has risen compared to last year as the carnival’s international footprint grows.

Using data collected from September 2 to November 25, Racing Victoria reported significant increases — betting turnover was up 5.4 per cent to a record $2.35 billion.

Almost 700,000 spectators, an increase of 5.6 per cent on last year, attended meetings.

Moonee Valley’s two-day carnival was the star performer, with its Manikato Stakes meet up 44.1 per cent before a sellout crowd of 32,712 watched Winx win a third straight Cox Plate.

More than 55,000 attended the three days of the Melbourne Racing Club’s Caulfield Cup carnival, while the Victoria Racing Club suffered a slight decline to its four-day Melbourne Cup carnival.

The 2.6 per cent fall to just over 310,000 was mainly because of building works on the new members’ grandstand.

Attendance at country Cup meetings grew by 5.1 per cent, with Avoca, Ballarat, Bendigo, Dunkeld, Geelong and Wodonga all attracting at least 6000 spectators each.

Wagering soared, with the sole negative stemming from Winx’s Cox Plate dominance of markets.

While Melbourne Cup day saw an Australian record for turnover on an individual meeting with $334.5 million bet domestically, an increase of 2.2 per cent, Winx suffocated Cox Plate markets. Figures showed betting on Cox Plate day fell by 11.2 per cent, with generally smaller fields blamed for the decline.

Participation rates were also up. A total of 1835 horses, up from 1769 last year, competed 3190 times with an average field size of 10.5 starters.

Led by a formidable 22 overseas contenders, including Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling, a total of 269 horses, 112 trainers and 75 jockeys recorded individual wins at the 34 premier meetings.