With just two months to go before Victoria’s famous Flemington Racecourse hosts the 2010 Melbourne Cup, Race 7 on Tuesday November 2, the final field of horses set to contest the 150^th edition of the Cup is becoming clearer.

The 2010 Melbourne Cup Weights were announced on Wednesday morning and the connections of the 200 plus horses nominated now have a better picture of their chances of running in and winning the feature handicap race.

This year the Melbourne Cup Field attracted 256 entries, the list of horses nominated including over 40 international entries vying for a spot in the final field.

Following the handicap announcement the first declarations for the Melbourne Cup, worth a record $6 million in prizemoney plus trophies this year, will be out on Tuesday September 7.

Narrowing down the possible Melbourne Cup runners, the owners and trainers of the Cup hopefuls must go through three declaration stages with the first declarations closing on Tuesday September 7.

With each stage the horse list shortens until just the field limit of 24 horses plus emergencies is revealed and the 2010 Melbourne Cup final field is announced on Victoria Derby Day, Saturday October 30, along with the barrier draw for the participating horses.

Just moments after the final field of acceptances and barriers for the Melbourne Cup are announced, we will publish the list of runners so bookmark us here at Races.com.au.

In the meantime get in on the lucrative early betting markets open on the Melbourne Cup by signing up to Australia’s leading online bookie [sportsbet], who guarantee better odds than your local TAB!