8 hours ago
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It is the race that stops a nation - and for one fearless punter, the 2025 Melbourne Cup will be life-changing, provided Al Riffa wins.
With nerves of steel, a bet was placed with Easygo, the parent company of Stake.com, for a staggering $500,000 at $8.00 odds on Monday.
So if the Mark Zahra-ridden stayer salutes over 3200m at Flemington, the punter will snare a jaw-dropping $4million.
But if the topweight chance loses, it is safe to say the punter in question will be doing plenty of soul searching.
'My head was spinning,' bookmaker Chris Lester told Racing.com after accepting the monster bet at the Call of the Card staged at Crown in Melbourne.
'It is a big bloody bet. '(For me), Al Riffa is clearly the best horse in the field, but no horse has won carrying 59 kilos for over 50 years.
It is the race that stops a nation - and for one fearless punter, the 2025 Melbourne Cup could be life-changing (pictured, Irish raider Al Riffa, who is firming by the minute with bookies)
If the Mark Zahra ridden Al Riffa salutes over 3200m at Flemington, the punter will snare a jaw-dropping $4million from Easygo, the parent company of Stake.com
'That's what concerns me. We are happy to take him on.'
After winning September's Irish St Leger in dominant fashion, the Joseph O'Brien-trained stable star has been widely tipped to feature when it matters.
In what could be an omen, O'Brien has also previously won the Melbourne Cup with Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020).
Elsewhere, Betr have taken a bet of $20,000 on the Irish Raider at $6, while Palmerbet accepted $10,000 at $11.
In terms of the 24-strong field, Half Yours ($7.00) remained the pre-race favourite on Tuesday morning, with Chris Waller's Valiant King ($8.00) and Buckaroo ($9.00) popular picks.
Palmerbet has also taken a bold bet of $2500 each way on Flatten the Curve.
If the $23 chance stuns the field, that punter will be just under $110,000 richer.
Other significant bets from the Call of the Card were: $150,000 on Al Riffa at $7.50, $133,333 on Al Riffa at $7.50, $44,000 on Meydaan at $25, $40,000 on Vauban at $26, $33,333 on Furthur at $30 and $25,000 on Absurde at $20.
Meanwhile, the Flemington track has been downgraded to a soft seven following almost 30mm of rain overnight.
The 2025 Melbourne Cup jumps at 3pm, with live coverage on Channel Nine and Sky Racing.
