Auckland Punter Misses Out on $732,000 Melbourne Cup Miracle
An Auckland punter’s dream of turning a $7.41 flutter into more than $732,000 has ended in heartbreak after his final pick, Buckaroo, failed to finish in the top three in the 2025 Melbourne Cup.
The anonymous bettor had stunned racing fans by landing 11 straight wins in an audacious 12-leg multi placed with the New Zealand TAB back in January. Eleven months later, he was just one race away from one of the biggest betting wins in New Zealand history.
To complete the miracle, Buckaroo — trained by Kiwi expat Chris Waller and ridden by top jockey Craig Williams — needed to finish in the top three at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon. But as the field thundered down the final straight, it wasn’t to be. Buckaroo faded out of contention, and the $732,216.21 dream went up in smoke.
The Melbourne Cup was instead claimed by Half Yours, ridden by Jamie Melham, who made history as just the second female jockey ever to win the race — exactly a decade after Michelle Payne’s famous 2015 victory on Prince of Penzance. Goodie Two Shoes finished second and Middle Earth ran third, with River of Stars in fourth.
Before the race, the punter admitted he’d been nervous that Buckaroo might not even make the Cup field, with Waller calling the decision to run the horse a “50–50 call” just last week. But when the trainer confirmed Buckaroo would start, drawn perfectly in barrier 12, hope was restored.
“This is like a lottery ticket,” the bettor told TAB staff before the race. “If this comes in, I’m buying enough beers without anybody else knowing.”
His twelve-leg bet had defied astronomical odds — turning a small coffee-sized wager into the possibility of a life-changing windfall. The ticket included winners like Ka Ying Rising in The Everest and Via Sistina in the Cox Plate, with each victory building the suspense for months.
Unfortunately, because the final three legs were placed on futures markets, the punter had no option to cash out before the Cup. He had to let fate decide.
Nick Conway, general manager of trading for Entain Australia and New Zealand, said before the race that TAB would happily pay the mammoth win if Buckaroo delivered.
“We’re bookies — we never like paying out this sort of money,” he said. “But if someone can turn $7 into more than $700,000, then all we can do is pay him his dues — and the $700,000!”
Instead, the punter walks away with a story for the ages — and the heartbreak of knowing he came closer than most ever will to pulling off a betting miracle.