| 2018 Melbourne Cup | |
| Horse Race: | Melbourne Cup |
| Location: | Flemington Racecourse Melbourne, Australia |
| Date: | 6 November 2018 |
| Winning Horse: | Cross Counter |
| Winning Jockey: | Kerrin McEvoy |
| Winning Trainer: | Charlie Appleby (UAE) |
| Surface: | Grass |
| Attendance: | 83,471[1] |
| Previous: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2019 |
The 2018 Melbourne Cup (known commercially as 2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup) was the 158th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race was run over 3200m (10,500feet) on 6 November 2018 at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
Lexus commenced a five-year naming rights sponsorship deal, taking over from Emirates.[2] It was the last Melbourne Cup broadcast by the Seven Network before Network Ten takes over in 2019.[3]
The race was won by Cross Counter, ridden by Kerrin McEvoy and trained by Charlie Appleby.[4] [5]
| Number | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Placing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best Solution | Saeed bin Suroor (UAE) | Pat Cosgrave | 6 | 8[6] | |
| 2 | The Cliffsofmoher | Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) | Ryan Moore | 9 | Did not Finish | |
| 3 | Magic Circle | Ian Williams (Great Britain) | Corey Brown | 17 | 16 | |
| 4 | Chestnut Coat | Yoshito Yahagi (Japan) | Yuga Kawada | 4 | 14 | |
| 5 | Muntahaa | John Gosden (Great Britain) | Jim Crowley | 13 | 9 | |
| 6 | Sound Check | Michael Moroney | Jordan Childs | 16 | 18 | |
| 7 | Who Shot Thebarman | Chris Waller | Ben Melham | 18 | 17 | |
| 8 | Ace High | David Payne | Tye Angland | 22 | 20 | |
| 9 | Marmelo | Hughie Morrison (Great Britain) | Hugh Bowman | 10 | 2 | |
| 10 | Avilius | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | 11 | 22 | |
| 11 | Yucatán | Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) | James McDonald | 23 | 11 | |
| 12 | Auvray | Richard Freedman | Tommy Berry | 1 | 21 | |
| 13 | Finche | Chris Waller | Zac Purton | 15 | 4 | |
| 14 | Red Cardinal | Darren Weir | Damien Oliver | 5 | 23 | |
| 15 | Vengeur Masque | Michael Moroney | Patrick Moloney | 2 | 15 | |
| 16 | Ventura Storm | David Hayes | Mark Zahra | 7 | 10 | |
| 17 | Prince of Arran | Charlie Fellowes (Great Britain) | Michael Walker | 20 | 3 | |
| 18 | Nakeeta | Iain Jardine (Great Britain) | Regan Bayliss | 3 | 12 | |
| 19 | Sir Charles Road | Lance O'Sullivan (New Zealand) | Dwayne Dunn | 14 | 7 | |
| 20 | Zacada | Murray Baker (New Zealand) | Damian Lane | 24 | 13 | |
| 21 | Runaway | Gai Waterhouse | Stephen Baster | 12 | 19 | |
| 22 | Youngstar | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 8 | 6 | |
| 23 | Cross Counter | Charlie Appleby (UAE) | Kerrin McEvoy | 19 | 1 | |
| 24 | Rostropovich | Aidan O'Brien (Ireland) | Wayne Lordan | 21 | 5 |
Irish colt The CliffsofMoher was euthanised after he suffered a fractured right shoulder.[7]
Overseas horses may be forced to be raced under a different name if horses with the same name are raced in Australia. Sound Check was renamed as Sound, Cliffs of Moher renamed as The CliffsofMoher and Prince of Arran as A Prince of Arran (raced as Prince of Arran on 2019 and 2020 Melbourne Cup). Sound Check was permitted to be raced with its original name in the Melbourne Cup.
After the races, 6 jockeys were fined.
Hugh Bowman was cited on three separate charges in the $7.3 million race - an incident of careless riding at the 500m, excessive whip use prior to the final 100m and the fact that he weighed in more than half a kilogram over his prescribed weight of 55 kg aboard runner-up Marmelo.
Kerrin McEvoy was fined $3000 after using the whip nine times - four more than what is permitted under the rules - on Cross Counter in the final 400m of the race.
Jim Crowley and Christine Puls were also suspended for careless riding on the undercard at Flemington.[8]