Every spring the punters go mad trying to discover the best Melbourne Cup betting tips for the first Tuesday of November, and with the Melbourne Cup 2013 nearly upon us, below we take a look at the statistics surrounding the Melbourne Cup jockey silks, colours and horse numbers to see if we can uncover a winner.

As is tradition, 24 of the world’s best stayers are engaged to square off in Flemington Race 7 this Tuesday, November 5, when the $6 million Group 1 Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) jumps at 3:00pm (AEST).

Melbourne Cup betting has been dominated since the barriers were released on the weekend by last year’s runner-up Fiorente for Sydney’s Gai Waterhouse.

Waterhouse is after her maiden Melbourne Cup trophy and the imported Fiorente, runner-up to Green Moon in the Melbourne Cup Quinella last year, is paying $7.50 to win.

But is Melbourne Cup horse No. six the one with the form to beat?

There a literally hundreds of ways to pick a Melbourne Cup winner, including by chance from your office Melbourne Cup sweep!

The race history and past statistics can tell us a lot however, and so for those punters that like to follow the trends and hoodoos let’s see what the Melbourne Cup jockey silks, colours and saddlecloths have to say.

Winning Melbourne Cup Jockey Silks Statistics

• More Melbourne Cup winning jockeys have worn black (as the primary colour) on their silks than any other colour
• This year two horses in the Melbourne Cup field will be ridden by a jockey wearing predominantly black – the favourite #6 Fiortene ($7.50) ridden by Damien Oliver and their stablemate #22 Tres Blue ($21) to be ridden by Tommy Berry
  
• Oliver is also a past Melbourne Cup winning jockey, one of nine in this year’s race, having saluted aboard international raider Media Puzzle in 2002
• After black the next best colours for a Melbourne Cup jockey to don are then navy (15 winners) and royal blue (14 winners)
• This year the six horses owned by Team Williams will wear the blue with: #2 Green Moon, #4 Sea Moon, #10 Fawkner, #11 Mourayan, #12 Seville and #14 Masked Marvel

Winning Melbourne Cup Horse Colour Facts

Aside from the jockey silks the other notable colour association with the Melbourne Cup winners is the horse themselves.

On record there are six official colours a Melbourne Cup contender can be registered as with some interesting horse colour statistics standing out.

• ‘Bay’ coloured horses have won the most Melbourne Cups of any other registered colour
• The most recent was Green Moon last year
• #2 Green Moon ($41) returns this year to defend their title
• Only five horses have managed to win multiple Melbourne Cups, most recently Makybe Diva (2003,2004,2005)
• 21 of the 24 Melbourne Cup horses are registered as ‘Bay’ this year including, the shortest-priced of which is #15 Mount Athos ($9.50)
• The least most successful coloured horse is grey with only six winners, most famously Subzero (1992)
• There are no greys running in this year’s Melbourne Cup

Winning Melbourne Cup Saddlecloth Statistics

• There are 24 horses and so 24 Melbourne Cup saddlecloth numbers
• No. 1 is the most successful with 12 Melbourne Cup winners: #1 Duanden ($41) has that number this year
• Dunaden also won the 2011 Melbourne Cup and is looking to become the sixth multiple winner of the iconic handicap
• No. 4 and 12 are the next most successful with 11 Melbourne Cup winners a piece: this year those saddlecloths belong to #4 Sea Moon ($14) and #12 Seville ($16)

See below for a comprehensive listing of the 2013 Melbourne Cup Jockey Silks, Colours and Horse Saddlecloth Numbers so you know which gallopers to give a go based on the above facts and stats this Cup Day!

Remember, when you’re ready to lock in your Melbourne Cup tips to do so online at Ladbrokes.com.au because they’re offering DOUBLE the fixed win prices on the entire field for you first bet on the world’s richest handicap with them!

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#1 Dunaden

Colours: Yellow, Royal Blue Stars, Yellow Cap

Trainer: Mikel Delzangles

Jockey: Jamie Spencer (58.5kg)

Barrier: 1

Last 5 Starts: 43228

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#2 Green Moon

Colours: Navy blue, white armbands and cap

Trainer: Robert Hickmott

Jockey: Brett Prebble

Barrier: 10

Last 5 Starts: 44599

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#3 Red Cadeaux

Colours: Light blue and red diamonds, light blue sleeves, red and light blue diamond cap

Trainer: Ed Dunlop

Jockey: Gerald Mosse

Barrier: 23

Last 5 Starts: 89624

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#4 Sea Moon

Colours: Navy blue, white armbands, navy blue cap

Trainer: Robert Hickmott

Jockey: Steven Arnold

Barrier: 7

Last 5 Starts: 80021

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#5 Brown Panther

Colours: Turquoise, dark blue cap

Trainer: Tom Dascombe

Jockey: Richard Kingscote

Barrier: 38115

Last 5 Starts: 6

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#6 Fiorente

Colours: Black, purple sash

Trainer: Gai Waterhouse

Jockey: Damien Oliver

Barrier: 5

Last 5 Starts: 36143

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#7 Foreteller

Colours: Green, yellow star and armbands

Trainer: Chris Waller

Jockey: Craig Newitt

Barrier: 15

Last 5 Starts: 81024

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#8 Dandino

Colours: Fluorescent yellow, navy blue seams

Trainer: Marco Botti

Jockey: Ryan Moore

Barrier: 4

Last 5 Starts: 72212

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#9 Ethiopia

Colours: Light blue, green hoops and cap

Trainer: Pat Carey

Jockey: Rhys McLeod

Barrier: 14

Last 5 Starts: 05004

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#10 Fawkner

Colours: Navy blue, white armbands, royal blue cap

Trainer: Robert Hickmott

Jockey: Nicholas Hall

Barrier: 8

Last 5 Starts: 37531

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#11 Mourayan

Colours: Navy blue, white armbands, red cap

Trainer: Robert Hickmott

Jockey: Brenton Avdulla

Barrier: 19

Last 5 Starts: 41787

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#12 Seville

Colours: Navy blue, white armbands, gold cap

Trainer: Robert Hickmott

Jockey: Hugh Bowman

Barrier: 9

Last 5 Starts: 00917

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#13 Super Cool

Colours: Royal blue, large white brace, white stripe, red brace, royal blue and yellow star sleeves

Trainer: Mark Kavanagh

Jockey: Corey Brown

Barrier: 13

Last 5 Starts: 34935

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#14 Masked Marvel

Colours: Navy blue, white armbands, pink cap

Trainer: Robert Hickmott

Jockey: Michael Rodd

Barrier: 2

Last 5 Starts: 80320

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#15 Mount Athos

Colours: Grey, beige star, grey and beige star sleeves and cap

Trainer: Luca Cumani

Jockey: Craig Williams

Barrier: 22

Last 5 Starts: 01582

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#16 Royal Empire

Colours: Royal blue, fly Emirates logo

Trainer: Saeed Bin Suroor

Jockey: Kerrin McEvoy

Barrier: 11

Last 5 Starts: 01122

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#17 Voleuse De Coeurs

Colours: Blue, white and orange Eliza Park logo, white sleeves, orange armbands, blue cap, gold pom pom

Trainer: Michael Moroney

Jockey: James McDonald

Barrier: 21

Last 5 Starts: 21321

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#18 Hawkspur

Colours: White, black stars, purple and white star sleeves, purple and white quartered cap

Trainer: Chris Waller

Jockey: Jim Cassidy

Barrier: 18

Last 5 Starts: 71457

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#19 Simenon

Colours: Purple, orange sleeves, purple and orange star cap

Trainer: Willie Mullins

Jockey: Richard Hughes

Barrier: 12

Last 5 Starts: 54223

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#20 Ibicenco

Colours: Navy blue and gold hoops, white sleeves and cap

Trainer: Peter Moody

Jockey: Luke Nolen

Barrier: 17

Last 5 Starts: 51801

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#21 Verema

Colours: Green, red epaulettes, green sleeves and cap

Trainer: Alain de Royer Dupre

Jockey: Christophe Lemaire

Barrier: 3

Last 5 Starts: 32511

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#22 Dear Demi

Colours: Royal blue, white crossed sashes

Trainer: Clarry Conners

Jockey: Chris Munce

Barrier: 16

Last 5 Starts: 73832

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#23 Tres Blue

Colours: Black, gold collar and cap

Trainer: Gai Waterhouse

Jockey: Tommy Berry

Barrier: 20

Last 5 Starts: 13211

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#24 Ruscello

Colours: Navy blue and gold hoops, white sleeves, red cap

Trainer: Ed Walker

Jockey: Chad Schofield (a)

Barrier: 24

Last 5 Starts: 33321