Aussie Quants' Melbourne Cup Picks Yield a Solitary Third Place
- A$6.2 million event often called the race that stops a nation
- Prince of Penzance defied 100-1 odds to be first past the post
Horses gallop from the starting gate during the first race on Melbourne Cup day at the Flemington racecourse in Melbourne.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Australia’s financial forecasters did little to separate themselves from hapless punters in their efforts to select the winners of the country’s richest horse race.
The Melbourne Cup, the so-called race that stops a nation that’s been run for more than 150 years, has a prize pool of A$6.2 million ($4.4 million) and draws punters who might only have a flutter once a year. It also gives financial boffins the chance to have a bit of fun by applying their modeling skills to a different type of market.