The 161st running of the race that stops a nation – the Melbourne Cup – will take place at Flemington’s Victoria Racing Club next Tuesday (November 2).
The famous 3200m staying race is loved by Australians and envied around the globe, with a host of international raiders venturing Down Under each year to chase the trophy, the prestige that comes with it and a share in the prizemoney – now worth $7.75 million.
The final field for the great race will feature a total of 24 horses.
After the fourth round of acceptances for the 2021 edition closed on Monday, there’s 35 horses left nominated for the race which jumps at 3pm in a week’s time.
So who will make the final cut? And how is it decided?
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HOW THE FIELD IS DECIDED
Connections must nominate their horse for the Melbourne Cup, which – for this year’s race – could have been lodged any time before August 3, when they were closed.
This year a total of 174 horses were nominated for the Cup.
As soon as that list is completed, the handicappers will assess and assign each nominee a weight, based on their handicap rating and past performances at the time.
They will also draw up an “order of entry” which ranks every horse from first to last based on how likely they are to make the final field. Generally the horses at the top of the list will be assigned the heaviest weights.
Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner, Twilight Payment, has been assigned the top weight of 58kg this time around. Verry Elleegant was actually placed atop the order of entry but has only been assigned 57kg.
From the time it is created, the order of entry will then change when connections withdraw their horse from contention, or when a nominated horse moves up the list based on weight penalties or performance in exemption events (explained below).
When the Melbourne Cup barrier draw happens at about 5.30pm on the Saturday before the race, the top 24 ranked horses on the order of entry will form the Cup field, and each will be assigned a barrier.
As of now, 35 horses remain in contention for a place in the final field (see the updated order of entry below).
EXEMPTIONS AND WEIGHT PENALTIES
The Melbourne Cup has five ballot-exemption races, which means the winner of each of those races can earn an automatic spot in the Cup, if connections choose to accept it.
The five exemption races are; The Andrew Ramsden (May 15), The Bart Cummings (October 2), Caulfield Cup (October 16), Cox Plate (October 23), and Lexus Stakes (October 30).
Realm Of Flowers won the 2021 Andrew Ramsden and was in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, but was last week withdrawn due to illness.
Grand Promenade won The Bart Cummings and so is an automatic entry – which is why it sits second on the order of entry despite being assigned only 51kg for the Cup.
Incentivise won the Caulfield Cup and sits first on the Melbourne Cup order of entry now, carrying 57kg.
Both Grand Promenade (1kg) and Incentivise (1.5kg) were given weight penalties after their wins in the exemption events, which have been calculated in their respective weights of 51kg and 57kg now.
State Of Rest won the Cox Plate but has not been nominated for the Melbourne Cup.
The Lexus Stakes will be run this coming Saturday, and the winner of that will automatically qualify for the Cup if connections wish to do so, meaning the order of entry is likely to change again before the barrier draw.
If a horse does run in the Lexus Stakes and wishes to also run in the Melbourne Cup, it will be backing up after only three days’ rest. Shocking was the last horse to win the Lexus and then the Cup three days later, achieving it in 2009.
Last year, Ashrun won the Lexus, earning a spot in the Melbourne Cup, and then ran 10th in the two-mile feature.
The Geelong Cup is not an exemption race for the Melbourne Cup, but the winner of that can be assigned a weight penalty that does push it up the order of entry.
The 2010 and 2011 Melbourne Cup winners both came from winning the Geelong Cup.
Last week’s Geelong Cup winner, Tralee Rose, has been pushed up the Melbourne Cup order of entry to be 17th and will now qualify for the great race.
2021 MELBOURNE CUP ORDER OF ENTRY (up to date)
1. Incentivise (gelding, 5yo, Peter Moody, 57kg + 1.5kg penalty)
2. Grand Promenade (GB) (gelding, 6yo, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, 52kg + 1kg penalty)
3. Verry Elleegant (NZ) (mare, 6yo, Chris Waller, 57kg)
4. Twilight Payment (IRE) (gelding, 9yo, Joseph O’Brien, 58kg)
5. Spanish Mission (USA) (horse, 6yo, Andrew Balding, 57kg)
6. Explosive Jack (NZ) (horse, 4yo, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, 54kg)
7. Johnny Get Angry (NZ) (gelding, 4yo, Denis Pagan, 53kg)
8. Away He Goes (IRE) (gelding, 6yo, Ismail Mohammed, 54.5kg)
9. The Chosen One (NZ) (horse, 6yo, Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, 54kg)
10. Selino (GB) (gelding, 6yo, Chris Waller, 53.5kg)
11. Miami Bound (NZ) (mare, 5yo, Danny O’Brien, 52kg)
12. She’s Ideel (mare, 6yo, Bjorn Baker, 52kg)
13. Ocean Billy (NZ) (gelding, 6yo, Chris Waller, 53.5kg)
14. Delphi (IRE) (horse, 5yo, Anthony and Sam Freedman, 53.5kg + 1kg penalty)
15. Persan (gelding, 5yo, Ciaron Maher and David Esutave, 53kg)
16. Knights Order (IRE) (gelding, 7yo, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, 53kg)
17. Tralee Rose (NZ) (mare, 5yo, Symon Wilde, 51kg)
18. Carif (gelding, 6yo, Peter and Paul Snowden, 52.5kg)
19. Pondus (GB) (gelding, 6yo, Robert Hickmott, 52.5kg)
20. Master Of Wine (GER) (gelding, 7yo, Michael, Wayne, and John Hawkes, 52.5kg)
21. Port Guillaume (FR) (gelding, 5yo, Ben and JD Hayes, 52kg)
22. Future Score (IRE) (gelding, 7yo, Matt Cumani, 51.5kg)
23. Fun Fact (gelding, 6yo, Bjorn Baker, 51.5kg)
24. Sir Lucan (IRE) (horse, 4yo, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, 50kg)
25. Mosh Music (mare, 7yo, Archie Alexander, 50kg)
26. Great House (IRE) (gelding, 5yo, Chris Waller, 50kg)
27. Floating Artist (GB) (gelding, 6yo, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, 50kg)
28. Hasta La War (gelding, 6yo, Sue Murphy, 50kg)
29. Amade (IRE) (gelding, 8yo, Phillip Stokes, 52.5kg)
30. Constantinople (IRE) (gelding, 6yo, Aaron Purcell, 50kg)
31. Emissary (GB) (gelding, 5yo, Michael Moroney, 50kg)
32. King’s Charisma (IRE) (gelding, 5yo, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, 50kg)
33. Mankayan (IRE) (gelding, 5yo, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, 50kg)
34. Tooradin (gelding, 5yo, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, 50kg)
35. Forgot You (NZ) (colt, 3yo, Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, 49kg)