It’s “the race that stops a nation” and by all indications the whole of Australia will be taking a break from their daily grind to witness the richest and most prestigious horse racing event in the country.

Traditionally, the gates open for the 2013 Melbourne Cup at 3:00 p.m. every first Tuesday of this month or Nov. 5 as the best thoroughbreds in the world converge in Australia to battle it out for the $6.2 prize money and place in horse racing history.

Over at bet365.com, Fiorenta (7.5) and Mount Athos (8.0) are top favorites with Dandino (10.0) not too far behind at 3rd.

Top 10 Favorites to Win the 2013 Melbourne Cup

1. Fiorente 7.5
2. Mount Athos 8.0
3. Dandino 10.0
4. Verema 13.0
5. Sea Moon 13.0
6. Simenon13.0
7. Hawkspur 15.0
8. Voleuse DeCoeurs17.0
9. Seville 17.0
10. Brown Panther 17.0

Fiorente is a trained by Gai Waterhouse and raced by Jockey Damien Oliver. The six-year-old thoroughbred has career winnings of over $1.57 million.

Oliver rode the horse Americain for a 12th place finish and Fiorente with then-Jockey James McDonald finished 2nd in the 2012 Melbourne Cup, which was won by Green Moon (Trainer: Robert Hickmott, Jockey: Brett Prebble). Green Moon is priced at 34.0 to repeat at Melbourne.

Relive Green Moon’s moment in 2012:

(Youtube credit: TVNRacingNetwork)

Other top favorites in 2013, Mounth Athos (Trainer: Luca Cumani, Jockey: Craig Williams) finished 5th in the 2012 race and European-trained Dandino (Trainer: Marco Botti, Jockey: Ryan Moore) is a surprise 10-to-1 favorite after placing 2nd in the recent Caulfield Cup.

The Australian horse racing spectacle began in 1861 when the first-ever Melbourne Cup was taken down by horse Archer trained by Etienne De Mestre.

More than a century and a half later, it has become one of the most watched and followed sporting event in Australia and the world with an estimated 700 million viewers from 120 countries either via television or online not to mention the regular 100,000 plus who watch at the venue.

If you're not part of the 100K crowd at the Flemington Racecourse, you can watch the race via various online means:

Online Streaming by Racing Network
Home Pay TV service via Sky Racing
Free-to-air TV via Channel 7

(Additional Live Streaming Links added once available)

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