Ladbrokes Tip: Horses with strong staying form in Melbourne often perform at good Adelaide Cup odds

The Adelaide Cup is one of the traditional Cup races still contested over the two miles (3200m) along with the Sydney Cup in April and the coveted Melbourne Cup held on the first Tuesday of November annually at Flemington Racecourse.

Holding Group 2 status the staying showdown runs at Morphettville Racecourse on the second Monday in March during the Adelaide Autumn Racing Carnival, the Adelaide Cup date set from 2006 before which it ran in May. Adelaide Cup Day is a public holiday for Labour Day in South Australia.

Offering $300,000 in prize money the race is run under handicap conditions and is often contested by gallopers comping out of the previous Saturday’s Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes (2600m). Inaugurated in 1864 it was originally a weight-for-age event before running as a handicap from 1869 onwards.

The latest edition of the Adelaide Cup ran on Monday March 8, 2021 and was won by the previous season’s runner-up Good Idea. 

Adelaide Cup Race Info

• Date: Monday March 8, 2021
• Track: Morphettville Racecourse
• Distance: 3200m
• Conditions: Handicap
• Status: Group 2
• Prize Money: $300,000
• First Run: 1864

2021 Adelaide Cup Results

The season’s full Adelaide Cup 2021 Results & Finishing Order will be detailed below once the staying clash is run and won on Monday March 8, 2021.

• 1st: #10 Good Idea
• 2nd: #9 Eperdument
• 3rd: #6 Long Arm

Last year’s runner-up Good Idea ($17) returned to dominate the 2021 Adelaide Cup results with a barnstorming 3.5 length victory over improving roughie Eperdument ($81).

Adelaide Cup Odds & Betting

Adelaide Cup betting markets are often dominated by horses with previous solid form over 2600m and above and stayers coming off a run in the Lord Reims Stakes at the same track feature prominently.

Favourites in the Adelaide Cup odds have a poor recent record with upset results scored by Norsqui ($25 in 2013), Tanby ($15 in 2015) and Purple Smile ($31 in 2016) in the past few years. In 2018 however the favourite in Adelaide Cup betting Fanatic got the job done for the punters, as did the short $2.20 top elect King Of Leogrance in 2020.

The outsiders were back in favour in 2021 with $17 winner Good Idea defeating 80/1 roughie Eperdument in an upset.

Horses coming off strong Melbourne form have performed well at good prices in Adelaide Cup betting recently too with 2015 winner Tanby coming off a Moonee Valley fifth over 2500m three weeks before and Purple Smile (2016) backing up off a Moonee Valley fifth before his upset Adelaide Cup result.

In 2017 the Adelaide Cup winner Annus Mirabilis improved on a lead-up fifth at Flemington behind Big Memory in the Listed Roy Higgins Quality (2600m), while the next year Fanatic (2018) won the Adelaide Cup after a second in the Roy Higgins. The 2019 Adelaide Cup winner Surprise Baby also came off a lead-up run when fourth in non-Black Type company at Flemington. King Of Leogrance (2020) also franked the autumn form out of Melbourne completing the Roy Higgins – Adelaide Cup staying double.

2021 Adelaide Cup Betting

The latest Adelaide Cup 2021 betting odds will be updated throughout the season with links to our markets to get behind the stayers you best fancy to handle the testing two miles in the Morphettville feature.

Adelaide Cup Field

The Adelaide Cup field is traditionally made up of both local and interstate stayers that have good form over 2400m and above. Top South Australian trainers often represented in the Adelaide Cup field include Tony McEvoy and Leon Macdonald & Andrew Gluyas.

While run over the same distance as the iconic Melbourne Cup, the Adelaide Cup hasn’t proven a good recent guide to the famous Flemington feature with the last horse to secure the Adelaide Cup – Melbourne Cup double being Subzero (1992). In 2019 the Adelaide Cup winner Surprise Baby ran a massive race in the Melbourne Cup when finishing under a length back for fifth behind that year’s winner Vow And Declare.

Horses coming out of the Adelaide Cup field often head to New South Wales later in the autumn for a shot at the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m), a race the 2013 Adelaide Cup winner Norsqui ran a brave second behind Mourayan to. Gallic (2007) was the last horse to complete the Adelaide Cup – Sydney Cup double.

Purple Smile (2016) won the Adelaide Cup at juicy autumn racing odds of $31. Photo Credit: Jenny Barnes.

2021 Adelaide Cup Field

The official Adelaide Cup 2021 final field and barriers will be published below once announced about a week out from Adelaide Cup Day.

The 2021 Adelaide Cup field features 17 gallopers including Archie Alexander’s Roy Higgins Quality winning mare Mosh Music who has a wide barrier 15 draw. That’s the same draw last year’s champ King Of Leogrance drew before he completed the Roy Higgins – Adelaide Cup double. Recent Hobart Cup winner Double You Tee carries the 59kg topweight.

• Scratchings: #1 Double You Tee (9) 

Adelaide Cup Tips

Adelaide Cup tips often favour local stayers with proven form at the Morphettville track and those with previous 3200m experience.

Interstate visitors have performed well over the past decade however making the raiders a good Adelaide Cup betting tip for value. The last single figure favourite to salute in the Adelaide Cup was Fanatic in 2018.

2021 Adelaide Cup Tips

Our exclusive Ladbrokes’ tips on the Adelaide Cup 2021 will be available below the week of the race so stay tuned for the stayers to back and sack in the Group 2 this autumn.

• To Win: #4 Tralee Rose ($1.85 at time of publish) 

Really hard to bet against the odds-on favourite in Monday’s two mile classic with Tralee Rose bringing all the form into the Adelaide Cup. This ultra-consistent Tavistock mare has won five of her past six starts. On New Year’s Day she saluted in Flemington’s Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m) by – wait for it – seven lengths. She’ll run out two miles never you mind. Her lead-up run showed she was versatile too as she won Morphettville’s Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes, a key lead-up into the Adelaide Cup. She only goes up a kilo to 55.5kg off that three and a half length victory. While the price isn’t great, she is.

Adelaide Cup Form Guide

The Adelaide Cup form guide is a punters’ best friend when it comes to tipping the right horses in the field of stayers in South Australia.

Along with the saddlecloth numbers, starting barriers, jockeys, trainers and weights for each horse in the Adelaide Cup field the form guide also shows the runners with the best form at the track and over the distance.

2021 Adelaide Cup Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive Adelaide Cup 2021 Form Guide will be available for punters below the week leading-up to the race.

Adelaide Cup Results

The Adelaide Cup results and finishing order are known on the second Monday in March, Adelaide Cup Day a public holiday in Adelaide. Along with the Adelaide Cup winner the results also reveal the winning quinella, trifecta, first four as well as the margins between each horse over the line.

The last back-to-back Adelaide Cup winner was Our Pompeii (1993-94), while the Adelaide Cup results from 1987-89 were dominated by triple winner Lord Reims who the traditional lead-up race is now named after.

Adelaide Cup Winners