A little bit of research and a whole lot of beginner's luck turned Papamoa local Pauline Westhead's first punt into a winner on Melbourne Cup Day.
Ms Westhead put a cheeky $10 bet on Fiorente, whose triumphant win in front of 100,000 racegoers at Flemington yesterday resulted in trainer Gai Warehouse becoming the first Australian woman to train a Melbourne Cup winner.
Fiorente, the 6-1 favourite, surged home over 3200 metres ahead of British horses Red Cadeaux (60-1) and Mount Athos (12-1) to win the famous race by three-quarters of a length.
"I have never, ever put a bet on anything before," a jubilant Ms Westhead told Bay of Plenty Times after the race.
"I did go online beforehand and I found these three guys talking about the race and who they thought were going to win. I had two names and one came up.