Form students and once-a-year punters alike were left to lick their wounds when Prince Of Penzance became just the fourth horse to win the Melbourne Cup at triple-figure odds.

The horse started at $101 in most fixed odds markets and paid slightly less on the main totalisators.

His surprise victory came in a year when wagering on the Cup was up across the country.

Punters in NSW, Victoria and the ACT bet a total of $95 million on the race, an increase of 5.7 per cent on last year.

NSW punters led the charge splurging $54.3 million while Victorians bet $38.8 million.

Tabcorp took almost $142 million worth of bets across the 10-race Flemington program, $10 million more than last year.

Prince Of Penzance paid $86.70 on the NSW totalisator, $65.90 on SuperTAB (Victoria and the ACT), and $74.10 on Queensland's UBET.

Despite the winner's starting price, Gerard Daffy from UBET said Prince Of Penzance had his share of support.

"Prince Of Penzance was always one of the outsiders but there was any amount of money for him in the 24 hours leading up to the race," Daffy said.

"Aussies love backing horses with a story behind them and there was none bigger than the Payne family, their history in the game, and the vision of (jockey Michelle Payne's brother) Stevie drawing barrier one."

One Victorian punter collected $252,000 after having $2000 on Prince Of Penzance at $126 less than 30 minutes before the race.

Exotics players had mixed fortunes with the trifecta of Prince Of Penzance, Max Dynamite and Criterion paying just over $10,000 in Queensland, $20,000 in Victoria and more than $26,000 in NSW.

Fame Game started the $5.50 favourite but his supporters had no joy with the Japanese horse finishing 13th.

But spare a thought for the person who took a four-leg Flemington multi of De Little Engine ($9.50), Malaguerra ($6), Don't Doubt Mamma ($6) and Prince Of Penzance ($81).

They all won but the punter accepted a `cash out' offer after the third leg and collected $441.20.

They could have pocketed $138,510 had they kept the bet alive.