The prestigious Melbourne Cup, is back this year on Tuesday, November 4th, at Flemington Racecourse. Are you ready to watch the heart-pounding moments of the $10 million race?
Finding a reliable, free Melbourne Cup livestream can be tricky, especially if you are traveling or living outside of Australia. Fortunately, the official broadcast partner, Channel 9, offers a completely free Melbourne Cup livestream via their streaming platform, 9Now.
However, if you are outside Australia, by using PureVPN, you can connect to an Australian server and bypass these regional barriers. As such, you get to watch the Melbourne Cup livestream from anywhere.
Melbourne Cup Key Details
- Event Name: 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup
- Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
- Location: Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia
- Distance: 3,200 metres
- Prize Money: $10 million
- Broadcasters: 9Now
Why Do You Need a VPN to Watch the Melbourne Cup?
You need a VPN to access the free Melbourne Cup livestream. Channel 9’s streaming platform, 9Now, holds broadcast licensing rights that legally limit access to its content within Australia. If you want to watch the race outside Australia, it will track your IP address and limit your access.
PureVPN works by masking your actual IP address and routing your internet traffic through an Australian server. To watch the Melbourne Cup livestream for free on 9Now, you simply connect to a PureVPN Australian server. It will assign you an Australian IP address, successfully tricking the 9Now platform into believing you are streaming in Australia.
How to Watch the 2025 Melbourne Cup on 9Now
The Melbourne Cup live stream is available on 9Now, an official broadcaster. However, if you are an international fan with a subscription to the service like 9Now, you will encounter regional limitations.
Here is how to access the Melbourne Cup live stream:
- Subscribe to PureVPN and create an account.
- Go to the official 9Now website.
- Sign up using your email address.
- Install the 9Now on your smart TV, mobile device, or stream directly through your browser.
- Use the search bar to look for “Melbourne Cup live stream”.
- Click to start streaming all the live fights, commentary, and coverage of the tournament.
To access the live stream outside the US on 9Now, connect to a US server using PureVPN. It will replace your real IP address with a US IP address, allowing you to watch the Melbourne Cup outside the US on 9Now.
Watch the 2025 Melbourne Cup Online
These are some other platforms where one can stream the Melbourne cup online in 2025
Watch the 2025 Melbourne Cup on Kayo Sports
Kayo Sports is an Australian subscription streaming service that offers extensive sports coverage, including content from Sky Racing and Racing.com, which broadcasts the 2025 Melbourne Cup. Kayo offers the standard plan at approximately $30/month or Kayo Premium at about $40/month.
Watch the 2025 Melbourne Cup on Sky Sports
Sky Sports Racing is the primary broadcaster of the Melbourne Cup in the UK, offering comprehensive coverage of the event. To watch Sky Sports Racing in the UK, you typically need a Sky TV package with the Sky Sports add-on, which can cost an additional £22 to £35 per month on top of your base subscription. If you are outside the UK, you need to use PureVPN and connect to a UK-based server. This grants you a UK IP address, allowing you to log in to Sky Go or the Now TV Player.
Preview of the 2025 Melbourne Cup
The 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup took place on Tuesday, November 4, at the iconic Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. Known as “the race that stops a nation,” the Melbourne Cup is Australia’s richest and most prestigious thoroughbred horse race.
The event featured 24 elite horses competing over a distance of 3,200 metres (approximately two miles) for a total prize pool of A$10 million. The winner’s share was a lucrative A$4.4 million, with prize money distributed down to 12th place.
The 2025 field included top contenders such as Al Riffa, Half Yours, and Valiant King, who led betting odds and carried strong form from recent races. The race attracted global attention with free live coverage available through Australia’s Network Ten and its streaming platform 10play, accessible worldwide via reliable VPN connections.
Following a thrilling race, Al Riffa secured the win, reinforcing their status among the elite of the racing world. Trainer and jockey form proved decisive, as did strategic pacing over the demanding Flemington course. The Melbourne Cup weekend included a full carnival of excitement, with numerous supporting races and events drawing crowds and viewers alike.
With rich prize money and worldwide broadcast access, the 2025 Melbourne Cup maintained its tradition as a marquee global horse racing event, showcasing top-level competition and rich Australian racing heritage.
Racecourse Melbourne Cup 2025
The Victoria Racing Club’s Flemington Racecourse is the most famous race course in Australia and has had race meetings run each year since 1840.
The track is a short distance from the city centre of Melbourne and has a circumference of 2,312 metres and a straight of 450m.
This racecourse is famous for its beautifully maintained roses, the lively crowds, and the traditions that define the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Address: 448 Epsom Rd, Flemington VIC 3031
Capacity: 120,000
Melbourne Cup Final Field 2025
| No | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AL RIFFA (FR) | Joseph O’Brien | Mark Zahra | 19 | 59kg |
| 2 | BUCKAROO (GB) | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 12 | 57kg |
| 3 | ARAPAHO (FR) | Bjorn Baker | Ms Rachel King | 15 | 56.5kg |
| 4 | VAUBAN (FR) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Blake Shinn | 2 | 56.5kg |
| 5 | CHEVALIER ROSE (JPN) | Hisashi Shimizu | Damian Lane | 5 | 55.5kg |
| 6 | PRESAGE NOCTURNE (IRE) | Alessandro Botti | Stephane Pasquier | 9 | 55.5kg |
| 7 | MIDDLE EARTH (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Ethan Brown | 13 | 54.5kg |
| 8 | MEYDAAN (IRE) | Simon & Ed Crisford | James McDonald | 22 | 54kg |
| 9 | ABSURDE (FR) | Willie Mullins | Kerrin McEvoy | 4 | 53.5kg |
| 10 | FLATTEN THE CURVE (FR) | Henk Grewe | Thore Hammer Hansen | 17 | 53.5kg |
| 11 | LAND LEGEND (FR) | Chris Waller | Joao Moreira | 16 | 53.5kg |
| 12 | SMOKIN’ ROMANS (NZ) | Ciaron Maher | Ben Melham | 11 | 53.5kg |
| 13 | CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD (IRE) | Kris Lees | Tim Clark | 24 | 53kg |
| 14 | HALF YOURS | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Ms Jamie Melham | 8 | 53kg |
| 15 | MORE FELONS (IRE) | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 23 | 53kg |
| 16 | ONESMOOTHOPERATOR (USA) | Brian Ellison | Harry Coffey | 6 | 53kg |
| 17 | FURTHUR (IRE) | Andrew Balding | Michael Dee | 7 | 52kg |
| 18 | PARCHMENT PARTY (USA) | William Mott | John Velazquez | 3 | 52kg |
| 19 | ATHABASCAN (FR) | John O’Shea & Tom Charlton | Declan Bates | 1 | 51.5kg |
| 20 | GOODIE TWO SHOES (IRE) | Joseph O’Brien | Wayne Lordan | 20 | 51.5kg |
| 21 | RIVER OF STARS (IRE) | Chris Waller | Beau Mertens | 14 | 51.5kg |
| 22 | ROYAL SUPREMACY (IRE) | Ciaron Maher | Robbie Dolan | 21 | 51kg |
| 23 | TORRANZINO (NZ) | Paul Preusker | Ms Celine Gaudray | 18 | 51kg |
| 24 | VALIANT KING (GB) | Chris Waller | Jye McNeil | 10 | 51kg |
Melbourne Cup Order Of Entry 2025
The Melbourne Cup Order of Entry is a crucial element in the lead-up to the renowned horse racing spectacle. With a limited number of spots available in the final field, the Order of Entry ensures that the most deserving and accomplished horses secure their positions
Horses earn their places through a combination of factors, including their performances in key lead-up races, handicap weights assigned, and prize money won.
This meticulous selection process not only adds an element of fairness but also heightens the anticipation as fans eagerly await the final lineup of contenders.
Melbourne Cup Line Up
- Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m) – 2025 Winner: Basilinna
- Cox Plate (2040m) – 2025 Winner: Via Sistina
- Lexus Archer Stakes (2500m) – 2025 Winner: Revelare
- The Bart Cummings (2500m) – 2025 Winner: Valiant King
- Roy Higgins Quality (2600m) – 2025 Winner: Deakin
- Geelong Cup (2400m) – 2025 Winner: Torranzino
- Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) – 2025 Winner: Star Of India
- Ebor Handicap (UK) – 2025 Winner: Ethical Diamond
- Belmont Gold Cup (USA, 3200m) – provides a ballot-free exemption for the winner.
Melbourne Cup Prize Money
The Melbourne Cup is worth a total of $10 million, and is the richest handicap horse race in the world.
The winner of the Cup gets $4,500,000 and trophies valued at $910,000; $850,000, $25,000, $15,000, $10,000 & $10,000 to owner, rider (including the Harry White Whip), trainer, strapper (Tommy Woodcock Trophy) and breeder respectively
Of that $4.5m to the winner, the owners get 85 percent, the trainer gets 10 percent, and the jockey gets five percent. Second place gets $1.1 million, third $560,000, fourth $360,000, fifth $240,000, and sixth to 12th placings get $160,000 each.
Connections of the runners that finish 13th to 24th now earn their owners $100,000 each.
Past Melbourne Cup winners
| Year | Winner (Draw) | Horse Age (Sex) | Trainer(s) | Jockey | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Knight’s Choice (5) | 5YO (gelding) | J Symons and S Laxon | Robbie Dolan | 90/1 |
| 2023 | Without A Fight (16) | 6YO (gelding) | A and S Freedman | Mark Zahra | 7/1 |
| 2022 | Gold Trip (13) | 5YO (horse) | C Maher and D Eustace | Mark Zahra | 20/1 |
| 2021 | Verry Elleegant (18) | 6YO (mare) | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 17/1 |
| 2020 | Twilight Payment (12) | 7YO (gelding) | Joseph O’Brien | Jye McNeil | 25/1 |
| 2019 | Vow And Declare (21) | 4YO (gelding) | Danny O’Brien | Craig Williams | 10/1 |
| 2018 | Cross Counter (19) | 3YO (gelding) | Charlie Appleby | Kerrin McEvoy | 8/1 |
| 2017 | Rekindling (4) | 3YO (colt) | Joseph O’Brien | Corey Brown | 14/1 |
Frequently Asked Questions
You can stream the Melbourne Cup live for free on 9Now, the official broadcaster in Australia. Simply create a free 9Now account to watch the race live in HD.
You can watch 9Now on smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, laptops, or streaming devices like Apple TV, Chromecast, and Fire Stick — just download the 9Now app or visit the official website.
The 2025 Melbourne Cup starts at 3:00 PM AEDT. Coverage on 9Now usually begins several hours earlier, featuring live interviews, track previews, and race-day analysis.
Yes. 9Now offers on-demand replays of the Melbourne Cup and other major races, so you can catch up anytime, even after the live broadcast.
Yes, using a VPN is legal in most countries. It simply helps you access geo-blocked platforms like 9Now securely while protecting your online privacy.
