$25 cup bet wins $230,000! By Bruce Butler

ONE lucky WA punter has had a massive $230,000 win on a $25 "mystery trifecta" at a Perth city Melbourne Cup betting tent.

The punter, known as Joe, is understood to have taken the $25 "shut the gate'' trifecta, nominating the first, second and third placed horses - Shocking, Crime Scene and Mouralyan.

The $25 bet turned to gold after Shocking, which had been trapped in the middle of the field, drew clear and raced away from Crime Scene in a classic finish.

The trifecta was completed when Mourilyan, trained by Dubai-based South African Herman Brown for the President of Chechnya, ran on strongly to take third.

The man placed the bet at a Forrest Chase Melbourne Cup tent.

The overjoyed Perth man told PerthNow: "I put a $25 on a mystery trifecta at the Forrest Place Melbourne Cup tent, and ended up winning just over $230k!

"I plan on giving 30k of it to charity and using the other 200k to put towards the purchase of my first property.''

The lucky bet was one of millions placed around Australia, with Victoria and New South Wales betting a record $95 million and WA punters splurging an estimated $15 on the Melbourne Cup.