Bendigo Cup Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2025

The Bendigo Cup is a Group 3 race run each year under handicap conditions. While the race is a Group 3, it holds the prize money of a Group 1, with a cool $500K on the line. As the name suggests, the race takes place at Bendigo Racecourse and in 2025, the race will be held on Wednesday, October 29.

Before you take a look at every aspect of this Group 3 race, we’ve put together some quick facts you should know about the race:

The Bendigo Cup has been around for a long time, with the first running of the event all the way back in 1868. We’ve decided to create a similar page for the Bendigo Cup as we have for all the other Group 1 races due to the mammoth amount of prize money attached to it, which attracts some of the best horses to Bendigo Racecourse.

It is also one of the most famous country cups in Australia and raced at one of the top tracks in Victoria. The Bendigo Cup is held right in the thick of the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival. It is run the Wednesday after the Cox Plate and just before the Victoria Derby! Spring really is a magical time for racing, especially in Victoria.

The Bendigo Cup isn’t the only race to take place on the day. In fact, Bendigo Cup day is filled with action-packed racing and really shines a light on some of Australia’s lesser-known tracks. While there is heaps of action on the track, there’s also a lot of entertainment to enjoy outside of the racing. 

Our Bendigo Cup page has all the details you could want about the race including betting, tips and odds information. The team at OnlyRacing.com.au also provides details on the field, form guide, results and more! We update this page regularly, so you always have the most up-to-date information.

The prize money is a massive draw card of this race and we’ve broken down the details so you know just how much each of the top finishers will take home. Check out the table below:

It’s probably the main reason you’re here - horse racing tips! Well, you’re in luck, because horse racing tips we have. Not only do we have tips for all the main races on the calendar but to sweeten the deal we also provide Bendigo tips for all the major race meetings at the track. Our experts are always on the hunt for their next great big win.

Back to the Bendigo Cup specifically now, our 2025 tips aren’t available just yet. We are waiting until race week, when the final field has been confirmed to get started on our tips. So make sure you check back during this time to see which runner our expert has put on top.

While you wait, check out our 2024 Bendigo Cup tips and judge our expert accordingly:

Bendigo Cup Best Bet - Berkeley Square

Continuing with what seems to be the current Spring Racing Carnival theme, the 2024 Bendigo Cup is a wide-open affair. We currently have seven of the 15 runners with odds of $10 or less! It’s a good field with so many genuine winning chances, but after looking through all the runners, I’m siding with Berkeley Square.

Yes, the gelding is unproven at 2,400m, but from what I can see, I think he’ll eat up the distance and hopefully attack the line strongly. Hasn’t had a lot go his way recently, including last time out in the Group 3 Coongy Cup, when he had too much to do. The rise in trip gives him the extra distance to chase these runners down and he gets a good draw.

Bendigo Cup Next Best - Sea King

This was a tough one, I could make a case for several of these runners to claim the spot as my next best for the 2024 Bendigo Cup. In the end, I’m going with the current $4.40 favourite (thanks to PlayUp) in Sea King. The favourite will only carry 54.5kg on his back, compared to the top weight of 59kg.

While this is the gelding's first run in Australia, we saw just how good of form he is. Last time out he finished on the line with Onesmoothoperator in the Ebor Handicap. The same Onesmoothoperator who just dominated in the Geelong Cup. With that in mind, I can understand why Sea King comes into this the favourite.

Bendigo Cup Best Roughie - Herman Hesse

An open field means there’s a lot of value floating around and one runner that I think can get going here at decent odds is Ciaron Maher trained Herman Hesse. While it’s not the biggest roughie I’ve ever found, the $9.50 on offer from PlayUp at the time of writing is still enticing enough for me.

Herman Hesse is on the short seven-day backup from the Group 3 Geelong Cup last Wednesday, where he finished middle of the pack. Before that race, Herman Hesse was on a two-race winning streak, with a Listed and a Group 2 victory under his belt. He deserves to be respected on that form and I think we’ll see a bounce-back performance here.

Before you go jumping in feet first and place your bets for the Bendigo Cup, we have some recommendations so that you can get the most out of your experience! There are plenty of Australian betting sites that will offer markets on the Bendigo Cup and it can be difficult to figure out which one is best.

The good news is that you don’t have to settle on just one bookie. In fact, one of our top recommendations is that you open accounts with multiple bookies. This means you can easily take advantage of any betting promotions on offer for this race as well as different odds being offered for the same runner/ market you wish to bet on.

When it comes to the market you should place your bet on, that will be guided by your knowledge. It’s a good idea to stick with the market you understand. That doesn’t mean you can’t expand your knowledge, but you should know what you’re placing your bet on. Some of the main markets that will be available for the Bendigo Cup include:

• Fixed Win/ Place
• Quinella
• Exacta
• Trifecta
• First Four
• Quaddie
• Same Race Multis

If you’re the kind of person who is on the go all the time, then you will benefit from a bookie that has a well-designed betting app. There are plenty of betting apps on the Australian market, but some in particular that we would recommend include PlayUp, Betfocus and Unibet.

For the 2025 Bendigo Cup, we don’t yet know which runners will be taking part. However, if history is anything to go by, we can expect a high-quality field filled with Aussie and international runners who are ready to make a big splash. 

If you’re not one for waiting, you should check out any odds markets as they can act as your guide to the runners that are more likely to make an appearance. If the odds are available for the Bendigo Cup, we will list them in our “Odds” section below on this page.

While we wait for the final field to be confirmed, check out the list of runners who took part in the Bendigo Cup in 2024 here:

For the 2024 edition of the Bendigo Cup, we saw a field of 15 runners confirmed, with no emergencies listed. It didn’t matter that there weren’t any emergencies in the end because there weren’t any pre-race scratchings, so all 15 runners took their place in the starting barriers.

Scratchings are an unfortunate way of life in horse racing and they happen all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a key race, like the Bendigo Cup, scratchings can still happen. This is why we recommend that you keep an eye on things, especially if you’ve placed a bet on the race.

Another aspect that is worthy of a mention is the barrier draw. The bigger the field, the more impact the barrier draw will have on the race. On top of this, the layout of certain tracks means the barrier draw has more influence. Some runners have a certain race style that is better suited for an inside or wider barrier as well.

Before the Bendigo Cup, it’s a good idea to look into the form guide, especially if you’re going to place a bet on the race. The form guide will provide heaps of relevant stats and data that you can use to determine which runner is most likely going to be the next winner. 

With a race like the Bendigo Cup, there’s a lot of history. So, over the years, you’ll find that patterns have emerged, meaning you’ll know what to look for in the next potential winner. Some key aspects to look at in the form guide include:

• Recent past results
• Previous success in this race
• Success at track/ distance
• Performance in lead-up races
• Barrier draw
• Success of favourites/ roughies
• Weight 
• Age
• Sex

One of the most important aspects is how each runner has performed in the lead-up to the Bendigo Cup. A horse that is in winning form cannot be knocked, but winning isn’t everything. There could be runners that have performed well recently, but didn’t get a clear run or were held up at a critical point in the race.

We understand that there’s likely going to be a lot of data to go through and if that isn’t really your thing, then we’ve got your back. Our experts sift through the form guide each year before the Bendigo Cup and provide their tips for the race! We’ll do all the heavy lifting for you, so all you need to do is place your bets.

There have been many editions of the Bendigo Cup now and while the race is listed as a Group 3, we still see some of the best horses compete. Only the best of the best can win the Bendigo Cup and this section is dedicated to them!

We’ve gone through the history of all the Bendigo Cup horses and found the most notable winners. These horses have accomplished many things throughout their career and have accumulated heaps of prize money in the process. Check out the top Bendigo Cup horses below: 

Puissance De Lune - 2012

Puissance De Lune won the Bendigo Cup in 2012 and experienced great success throughout his career. He was racing at Group One level constantly and in his final race, he finished third in the Turnbull Stakes. Group One races always bring out the toughest competition and Puissance De Lune certainly wasn’t just making up the numbers!

Sertorius - 2013

With a career record of 45:10-10-4, Sertorius won the 2013 Bendigo Cup. While he wasn’t able to win a Group 1 race, he placed on two occasions and he was a Group 2 winner. With over $1 million worth of prize money in the bank, it’s easy to see why Sertorius deserves a place on this list!

The Offer - 2015

Group 1 winner, The Offer, was also victorious in the 2015 Bendigo Cup. The Offer won the Sydney Cup in 2014, which pushed his winning streak to three at that time. He won his two lead-up races, the Group 3 Manion Cup and the Group 2 Chairman's Handicap, before his Group 1 victory.

Francis Of Assisi - 2016

Francis Of Assisi never contested at Group 1 level but found success at Group 3 level when he won the 2016 Bendigo Cup. He finished his career with a record of 19:8-1-1 and placed on one occasion at Group 2 level. If Francis Of Assisi jumped as favourite, you wanted to be on him, as he had a record of 4: 3-1-0 as the favourite.

High Emocean - 2022

Straight after High Emocean’s victory in the 2022 Bendigo Cup, she went and tried her hand in the biggest race of them all, the Melbourne Cup. She put in another outstanding performance and managed to finish in third for the Melbourne Cup, which helped push her current prize money to over $1 million.

If you’re going to place a bet on the Bendigo Cup, you need to know two things: which runner/s you’re going to back and the odds! The odds for the Bendigo Cup are released well before the event so punters can get their best sorted, even if they have an early hot tip. The first market to open up will be the Fixed Win/ Place market.

As we get closer to the event, more horse racing markets will open up, like First Four, Trifecta and Quinella. You’ll notice that as soon as the market is up, the odds will constantly be changing. Many factors go into influencing the odds, so if you see a price you like, it’s a good idea to jump on.

You can place your bets with any bookie you like, as pretty much every Aussie bookie will offer Bendigo Cup odds. However, the bookie we like for the Bendigo Cup is PlayUp, as they are known to have fairly competitive odds. We’ve checked and at this stage, PlayUp doesn’t have their markets open just yet for the Bendigo Cup.

A great time to place your bets on the Bendigo Cup is when the market is listed as “Before Noms” because this means you’ll get your stake back if the horse you chose doesn’t make the final field. We have also found that the further out you bet on the race, the higher the odds you’ll get, as there’s more uncertainty about which runners are targeting the race.

The Bendigo Cup odds for the race in 2025 aren’t available, but you can check out the odds for the runners in 2024, taken just a day before the race:

*Odds correct as of 29/10/2024.

The Bendigo Cup is a race with a rich history and while it might not get as much attention as some of the other races on the calendar, it comes with a price tag of $500,000! The race is uniquely placed on a Wednesday and is right in the thick of Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival, which is undoubtedly one of the biggest horse racing carnivals of the year.

In the past, we’ve seen some runners who have had success in the Bendigo Cup go on to contest the race that stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup. This includes the likes of High Emocean in 2022, who won the Bendigo Cup and then went on to finish in third place in the Melbourne Cup. 

The Bendigo Cup was previously known as the Sandhurst Cup and it is a local public holiday in all areas west of the Campaspe River. From 1979 until 2014, the Bendigo Cup held Listed Race status. From 2015 until now, the race has been run at Group 3 status. 

Over the years, there’s been a bit of back and forth with the race distance. All the changes in the distance of the Bendigo Cup over the years are as follows:

• 1947 - 1993: 2,200 metres
• 1994 - 2008: 2,400 metres
• 2009 - 2010: 2,200 metres
• 2011 - now: 2,400 metres

Want to know who won the Bendigo Cup? Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place! We’ve got all the details you’ve been searching for including the finishing order of every runner and a video replay, so you can easily relive all the action. As soon as the upcoming race has been run and won, we will update this section for your viewing pleasure.

For the Bendigo Cup in 2024, we saw the second favourite, Sea King claim victory. It was a dominant victory by the Harry Eustace-trained gelding, who finished 3.8L ahead of Berkeley Square who seemed to leave his run just a little too late.

Star Vega, who jumped from a wide barrier, finished in third place, a total of 4L off the leader. In the end, the 2024 Bendigo Cup was run in a time of 2:27.82 and there were 40.7L between the first and last runners across the finishing post.

See where each runner finished in the Bendigo Cup below:

You know where every runner finished in the Bendigo Cup, so now it’s time to watch how the race unfolded. Take a look at the video below which is a full race replay of the Bendigo Cup:

As you probably already know by now, the Bendigo Cup has a rich history with many top-notch runners gracing the winners' stall. We’ve gone through and put together a table that includes all the recent Bendigo Cup winners. Check out the details below:

Before you know everything you could possibly know about the Bendigo Cup, we have one last section for you! Our FAQs section covers all the most commonly asked questions about the Bendigo Cup. If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers - check them out below: