2025 Melbourne Cup
The 2025 Melbourne Cup, known commercially as the 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup, was the 165th running of the Melbourne Cup, an Australian thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over, was held on 4 November 2025 at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse.
The final field for the race was declared on 1 November 2025. The total prize money for the race is A$10 million, a $144,000 increase from 2024. The race was won by Half Yours, ridden by Jamie Melham, the first woman to win since Michelle Payne in 2015.
Previous Melbourne Cup involvement
Horses
Absurde, Land Legend, Buckaroo, Vauban, Onesmoothoperator and Valiant King returned from 2024, where they placed 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th respectively. Absurde and Vauban also participated in 2023, placing 7th and 14th respectively, as well as More Felons who placed 12th. Smokin' Romans and Arapaho participated in 2022, placing 7th and 11th respectively. Athabascan was in the field in 2024 but was scratched.Jockeys
Several former champions raced: three-time champion Kerrin McEvoy, two-time champion Mark Zahra, and one-time champions Blake Shinn, Craig Williams, Jye McNeil, James McDonald and Robbie Dolan. Other jockeys in the field with Cup success included Joao Moreira, Ben Melham, Jamie Melham, Wayne Lordan and Beau Mertens. Among the jockeys, only five had not previously participated in the cup: Ethan Brown, Celine Gaudray, Thore-Hammer Hansen, Stéphane Pasquier and John Velazquez.Trainers
Former winning trainers participating were Joseph O'Brien, Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher.Prizemoney
The 10,000,000 prize pool is distributed as follows:First: $4,500,000 and trophies valued at $910,000Second: $1,110,000Third: $560,000Fourth: $360,000Fifth: $240,000Sixth to Twelfth: $160,000Thirteenth to Twenty Fourth: $100,000The prizemoney increased by 2,250,000 from the 2024 race to include, for the first time, prizemoney for runners that finshed from thirteenth to last should the runner meet conditions set out by the VRC.