Your last-minute Melbourne Cup guide

With only a few hours until the field jumps in the Melbourne Cup, SmartCompany’s team of form analysts and odds experts have been assessing the field and making their selections. And there’s one word to sum up their last minute thoughts – Shocking.

That’s the horse, of course, not our tips.

According to Michael Horne, racing manager at leading bookmaking firm Betstar, professional punters from all over Australia have been warming to the Mark Kavanagh-trained horse since his impressive win in Saturday’s Lexus Stakes at Flemington.

Bart Cummings’s main chance Viewed, which won the Melbourne Cup last year and the Caulfield Cup just three weeks ago, still dominates the market at $4.60, just ahead of the South Australian galloper Alcopop.

“While the favourites Viewed and Alcopop are still popular with the smaller punters, the professionals have settled on Shocking and he has been backed from $13 to $10,” Horne says.

There has also been good money for the New Zealand horse Daffodil, Cumming’s long-shot chance Allez Wonder and Sydney horse Fiumicino, owned by fruit and vegetable magnate Nick Moratis.

As usual, the race has attracted some wealthy thoroughbred owners, including Lloyd Williams (who has C’est Le Guerre), Malaysian magnate Dato Tan Nim Chan (owner of Viewed) and Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of Chechnya (Mourilyan).

Horne’s top selection is Master O’Reilly, while the SmartCompany team can’t go past Bart Cumming’s horse Viewed.

Of course, punting on the Melbourne Cup should be treated as a bit of fun and not a path to fame and fortune.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a warning this morning telling punters to stay away from sports betting schemes that promise investment-like returns by using arbitrage strategies.

ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell says the schemes are simply another form of gambling.

“These schemes simply cannot deliver and odds are you will kiss your money goodbye – and quickly. At a time when having a flutter is on everyone’s mind, this is a strong warning from a multi-agency taskforce that has been cracking down on such schemes.”