6 Nov 2012

Green Moon wins Melbourne Cup

9:15 pm on 6 November 2012

Australian horse Green Moon has won the 2012 Melbourne Cup.

The six-year-old Victorian-trained horse ridden by Brett Prebble turned around a poor performance in the Cox Plate and took the lead inside the final 200 metres at Flemington on Tuesday.

Australian-owned Fiorente finished second a length behind, ridden by New Zealand jockey James McDonald, while English horse Jakkalberry was third.

It was the 152nd running of Australia's richest horse race and the fourth win for Green Moon's owner Lloyd Williams.

Last year's winner Dunaden and the 2010 winner Americain were never in the race, finishing well back in 14th and 11th place, respectively. Ethiopia came a distant last.

NZ punters spend up

New Zealand punters having a flutter on the Melbourne Cup bet the second highest amount in the race's history.

TAB racing manager Michael Dore said he was surprised at how much money went through the tills.

"We've taken $5.4 million on the tote which is up just shy of $500,000, or just under 10 percent, on the same time last year. Last year was the second-best Melbourne Cup ever after 2010."

Melbourne Cup day is the biggest of the year for the TAB. The quinella paid $506.90, while the trifecta was $41,064.