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 2025.2025 Melbourne Cup field and barrier draw – racenet.com.au. Retrieved 2 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.
Field NumberHorseTrainerJockeyWeight (kg)BarrierPlacing 1 Al Riffa (FR) Joseph O'Brien Mark Zahra 59 19 7th 2 Buckaroo (GB) Chris Waller Craig Williams 57 12 24th 3 Arapaho (FR) Bjorn Baker Rachel King 56.5 15 12th 4 Vauban (FR) Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Blake Shinn 56.5 2 6th5 Chevalier Rose (JPN) Hisashi Shimizu Damian Lane 55.5 5 23rd6 Presage Nocturne (IRE) Alessandro Botti Stephane Pasquier 55.5 9 19th7 Middle Earth (GB) Ciaron Maher Ethan Brown 54.5 13 3rd8 Meydaan (IRE) Simon & Ed Crisford James McDonald 54 22 10th9 Absurde (FR) Willie Mullins Kerrin McEvoy 53.5 4 8th10 Flatten The Curve (FR) Henk Grewe Thore Hammer-Hansen 53.5 17 13th11 Land Legend (FR) Chris Waller Joao Moreira 53.5 16 22nd12 Smokin' Romans (NZ) Ciaron Maher Ben Melham 53.5 11 14th13 Changingoftheguard (IRE) Kris Lees Tim Clark 53 24 9th14 Half Yours Tony & Calvin McEvoy Jamie Melham 53 8 1st15 More Felons (IRE) Chris Waller Tommy Berry 53 23 18th16Onesmoothoperator (USA) Brian Ellison Harry Coffey 53 6 16th17 Furthur (IRE) Andrew Balding Michael Dee 52 7 11th18 Parchment Party (USA) William Mott John Velazquez 52 3 20th19 Athabascan (FR) John O'Shea & Tom Charlton Declan Bates 51.5 1 21st20 Goodie Two Shoes (IRE) Joseph O'Brien Wayne Lordan 51.5 20 2nd21 River Of Stars (IRE) Chris Waller Beau Mertens 51.5 14 4th 22 Royal Supremacy (IRE) Ciaron Maher Robbie Dolan 51 21 15th23 Torranzino (NZ) Paul Preusker Celine Gaudray 51 18 5th 24 Valiant King (GB) Chris Waller Jye McNeil 51 10 16th
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 (2000, 2016 and 2018), two-time champion Mark Zahra (2022 and 2023), and one-time champions Blake Shinn (2008), Craig Williams (2019), Jye McNeil (2020), James McDonald (2021) and Robbie Dolan (2024). Other jockeys in the field with Cup success included Joao Moreira (2nd in 2016 and 2023), Ben Melham (2nd in 2017), Jamie Melham (3rd in 2020 and 2024, but who won this iteration), Wayne Lordan (3rd in 2019) and Beau Mertens (3rd in 2023). 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 (2017 and 2020), Gai Waterhouse (2013), Chris Waller (2021) and Ciaron Maher (2022).
Prizemoney The 10,000,000 prize pool is distributed as follows:
First: $4,500,000 and trophies valued at $910,000 Second: $1,110,000 Third: $560,000 Fourth: $360,000 Fifth: $240,000 Sixth to Twelfth: $160,000 Thirteenth to Twenty Fourth: $100,000
The prizemoney increased by 2,250,000 from the 2024 race to include, for the first time, prizemoney for runners that finished from thirteenth to last should the runner meet conditions set out by the VRC.
See also List of Melbourne Cup winners List of Melbourne Cup placings Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival
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