Betting tips / Paul Bugeja / 01 November 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Paul Bugeja takes a look at how some of our experts fared in their selections in a Cup that went right down to the wire.

What a Cup.

Yes, OK, it's something of a cliche to say that about a Melbourne Cup, because they are all pretty damn fine events, but this one takes the photo-finish-cake.

There have been some close calls in the past, which led to the photo finish being made mandatory in 1948.

It was this late forties edition of the Cup where the photo finish camera was first used to declare Rimfire the winner over Dark Marne, although it is whispered around the tracks that the decision should have been the reverse.

One of the closer photo finishes in recent memory was in 2008 when we saw Viewed sneak over the line from Bauer.

And this year, in what some are already hailing as the closest camera finish ever (and, if you, like me saw it, you are probably still wondering how they decided which horse crossed the line first, so close they both were), it was one of the french contingent, Dunaden, that was declared winner by a whisker over Red Cadeaux.

Third place also came down to the camera's sharp eye, and it went to one of our personal favourites, Lucas Cranach, just over favourite Americain. Betfair was lucky enough to be allowed inside the stable of Lucas C prior to the Cup through the insightful blog of part-owner Luke Murrell, who is no doubt right now celebrating his horse's placing with a quiet beer or three.

So, how did our experts go?

Well, like many in the racing world, most saw it hard to go past favourite Americain, and yet a couple were certainly watching and predicting that the winner might in fact be Dunaden.

Dominic Beirne was, as so often the case, on the money.

In his preview on Monday he predicted that the Geelong Cup win, in personal best form for Dunaden, was an excellent indicator of his form going into the Cup.

And boy was he right--clearly, after Americain's taking of both Cups last year, there is something the French love about the Geelong-Melbourne double.

Gary Crispe, of racingandsports.com.au, went one step further and from the outset saw Dunaden as the real chance of taking out the Cup, pointing out his higher timeform rating coming into the cup than that of the defending champion going into last year's.

That's why we have such smart racing heads like Crispe and Beirne and their insightful views on Betting at Betfair--to help you win at Betfair, often with odds better than any of the other agencies.

So whether it's horse racing, AFL, Rugby, Barclay's Premier League or some of the coming summer sports like cricket and tennis, Betting @ Betfair is the place to bone up on the best betting tips for nearly every sport imaginable going around.