Acceptances for the 2015 Melbourne Cup field close at midday on Wednesday the 28th of October. Late acceptances will be accepted up until 10am the next morning. On Victoria Derby Day, Saturday October 31st, the final Melbourne Cup field will be announced. The 2015 Melbourne Cup field races off on the 3rd of November.

Final acceptances for the 2015 Melbourne Cup field will be announced on Victoria Derby Day, October 31st.

2015 Melbourne Cup Field & Barriers

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight (Penalty)	Hcp Rating
1	23x7x116x5	SNOW SKY (GB)	Sir Michael Stoute	Ryan Moore	16	58kg	115
2	x32135x612	CRITERION (NZ)	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Michael Walker	4	57.5kg	116
3	x61x01x2x6	FAME GAME (JPN)	Yoshitada Munakata	Zac Purton	12	57kg	113
4	1016x7x923	OUR IVANHOWE (GER)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Ben Melham	22	56kg	112
5	115x47117x	BIG ORANGE (GB)	Michael Bell	Jamie Spencer	23	55.5kg	110
6	7x2114x465	HARTNELL (GB)	John O’Shea	James McDonald	17	55.5kg	112
7	38x05x36x0	HOKKO BRAVE (JPN)	Yasutoshi Matsunaga	Craig Williams	20	55.5kg	110
8	1244F7221x	MAX DYNAMITE (FR)	William Mullins	Frankie Dettori	2	55kg	109
9	726x52073x	RED CADEAUX (GB)	Ed Dunlop	Gerald Mosse	8	55kg	109
10	x411121352	TRIP TO PARIS (IRE)	Ed Dunlop	Tommy Berry	14	55kg	109
11	x5442x7587	WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Blake Shinn	6	54.5kg	109
12	x46xD1x1x2	SKY HUNTER (GB)	Saeed Bin Suroor	William Buick	7	54kg	108
13	60x8x15541	THE OFFER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse	Damien Oliver	13	54kg	108
14	89431×0750	GRAND MARSHAL (GB)	Chris Waller	Jim Cassidy	15	53.5kg	106
15	x0628x0119	PREFERMENT (NZ)	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	11	53.5kg	113
16	201x2112x0	QUEST FOR MORE (IRE)	Roger Charlton	Damian Lane	21	53.5kg	107
17	5416×50671	ALMOONQITH (USA)	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	10	53kg (1.0kg)	105
18	266x412x38	KINGFISHER (IRE)	Aidan O’Brien	Colm O’Donoghue	9	53kg	106
19	2123×85582	PRINCE OF PENZANCE (NZ)	Darren Weir	Ms Michelle Payne	1	53kg	105
20	12122	BONDI BEACH (IRE)	Aidan O’Brien	Brett Prebble	18	52.5kg	112
21	98x21x0069	SERTORIUS	Jamie Edwards	Craig Newitt	5	52.5kg	101
22	x3x0x12261	THE UNITED STATES (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Joao Moreira	3	52.5kg (2.5kg)	104
23	5x11x57221	EXCESS KNOWLEDGE (GB)	Gai Waterhouse	Kerrin McEvoy	24	51kg	101
24	x1141x9804	GUST OF WIND (NZ)	John Sargent	Chad Schofield	19	51kg	104

There is always a maximum of 24 horses in the final 2015 Melbourne Cup field. No emergencies are allocated in the Melbourne Cup field, so if some horses drop out, they will not be replaced by other runners. The only horses that can contest the Melbourne Cup are those named in the final field. It becomes much clearer as Melbourne Cup Day approaches which horses will contest the final field. You can watch some lead up races to determine which of those runners that are borderline inclusions will actually make it into the final 24 Melbourne Cup horses.

Melbourne Cup nominations open in early September, usually about two months prior to the Cup itself. Usually, around 150 horses will appear amongst the Melbourne Cup nominations. Many of these will be foreigners who are a fair way down the order of entry. As a result, they often head to Australia early in order to get through the mandatory 14 days of quarantine and still have time for a lead-up race.

Because Melbourne Cup nominations occur so early, the betting markets are open for a very long time. It’s possible to have a punt on Melbourne Cup nominations nearly two months out from the Melbourne Cup. Of course, there are some risks involved with betting on a horse that early. There is every chance that your horse will withdraw from nominations or simply not qualify for the final field. In 2014, Gai Waterhouse’s The Offer was the favourite well out from the race due to an impressive Sydney Cup win. It would have attracted considerable punting volumes, and was withdrawn from contention prior to the final acceptances.

2015 Melbourne Cup Second Acceptances

2015 Melbourne Cup second declarations are usually announced about a week or two out from the race itself. The Melbourne Cup second acceptances greatly narrow down the field of potential contenders and provide punters with much clearer insight into the make-up of the final field.

The 2015 Melbourne Cup second acceptances will be published here.

No	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Hcp Rating
1	11151×7431	MONGOLIAN KHAN	H	4	Murray Baker	1	56kg (1kg)	2
2	23x7x116x5	SNOW SKY (GB)	H	5	Sir Michael Stoute	2	58kg	1.5
3	x32135x612	CRITERION (NZ)	H	5	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	3	57.5kg	2
4	x61x01x2x6	FAME GAME (JPN)	H	6	Yoshitada Munakata	4	57kg	2.5
5	12122	BONDI BEACH (IRE)	H	4	Aidan O’Brien	5	52.5kg	3
6	1016x7x923	OUR IVANHOWE (GER)	H	6	Lee & Anthony Freedman	6	56kg	3.5
7	7x2114x465	HARTNELL (GB)	G	5	John O’Shea	7	55.5kg	4
8	38x05x36x0	HOKKO BRAVE (JPN)	H	8	Yasutoshi Matsunaga	8	55.5kg	4
9	115x47117x	BIG ORANGE (GB)	G	5	Michael Bell	9	55.5kg	4
10	x0628x0119	PREFERMENT (NZ)	H	4	Chris Waller	10	53.5kg	4.5
11	x411121352	TRIP TO PARIS (IRE)	G	5	Ed Dunlop	11	55kg	4.5
12	726x52073x	RED CADEAUX (GB)	G	10	Ed Dunlop	12	55kg	4.5
13	1244F7221x	MAX DYNAMITE (FR)	G	6	William Mullins	13	55kg	4.5
14	x5442x7587	WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ)	G	7	Chris Waller	14	54.5kg	5
15	960x8x1554	THE OFFER (IRE)	G	7	Gai Waterhouse	15	54kg	5.5
16	x1141x9804	GUST OF WIND (NZ)	M	4	John Sargent	16	51kg	5.5
17	x46xD1x1x2	SKY HUNTER (GB)	G	6	Saeed Bin Suroor	17	54kg	5.5
18	89431×0750	GRAND MARSHAL (GB)	G	6	Chris Waller	18	53.5kg	6
19	201x2112x0	QUEST FOR MORE (IRE)	G	6	Roger Charlton	19	53.5kg	6
20	211x0x0171	AMRALAH (IRE)	H	6	Robert Hickmott	20	53.5kg (2kg)	6
21	266x412x38	KINGFISHER (IRE)	H	5	Aidan O’Brien	21	53kg	6.5
22	5416×50671	ALMOONQITH (USA)	H	6	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	22	53kg (1kg)	7.5
23	2123×85582	PRINCE OF PENZANCE (NZ)	G	6	Darren Weir	23	53kg	6.5
24	0530×48425	BEATEN UP (GB)	G	8	Chris Waller	24	52.5kg	7
25	98x21x0069	SERTORIUS	G	8	Jamie Edwards	25	52.5kg	7
26	x3x0x12261	THE UNITED STATES (IRE)	H	6	Robert Hickmott	26	52.5kg (2.5kg)	9.5
27	645361x2x1	SECRET NUMBER (GB)	H	6	Saeed Bin Suroor	27	52.5kg	7
28	6624×00842	DANDINO (GB)	H	9	Darren Weir	28	52.5kg	7
29	73510×0872	PONDAROSA MISS (NZ)	M	5	Peter Hollinshead	29	50.5kg	7.5
30	0535×86826	THUNDER LADY (NZ)	M	4	John Sargent	30	50kg	8
31	2x893x0005	LIKE A CAROUSEL	G	6	Ken Keys	31	51kg	8.5
32	15x11x5722	EXCESS KNOWLEDGE (GB)	H	6	Gai Waterhouse	32	51kg	8.5
33	2121×69233	BOHEMIAN LILY (NZ)	M	4	Gai Waterhouse	33	50kg	9
34	4321x6x185	CHANCE TO DANCE (IRE)	G	6	Robert Hickmott	34	50.5kg	9
35	x362Lx6063	HAVANA COOLER (IRE)	G	6	John O’Shea	35	50kg	9.5
36	12156×2181	RULING DYNASTY	H	4	James Cummings	36	50kg	9.5
37	x34441x677	DE LITTLE ENGINE	G	5	Danny O’Brien	37=	50kg	9.5
38	6316×41211	ELHAAME (IRE)	G	6	Saeed Bin Suroor	37=	50kg	9.5
39	x88x000306	ETHIOPIA	G	7	Pat Carey	37=	50kg	9.5
40	104110×927	HIGH MIDNIGHT	G	4	James Cummings	37=	50kg	9.5
41	6947719116	THUNDER SET	G	7	Vince Jones	37=	50kg	9.5
42	23314×8821	ZANTECA (NZ)	M	6	Darren Weir	37=	50kg	9.5

2015 Melbourne Cup First Acceptances

The Melbourne Cup first acceptances are usually released in early October, roughly a month after nominations are announced. The Melbourne Cup first declarations provide a better indication of the final horses in the field, although there are still many runners in contention. Always keep in mind that things can change. Horses can get injured, trainers can change targets, horses may not get to the stage they need to be at, and a variety of issues can crop up. Still, you will most likely get better odds on the Melbourne Cup first acceptances, simply because there is a chance that each horse will drop out of contention.

You can visit this page if you would like to read about the horses in the first acceptances.

2015 Melbourne Cup Nominations & Weights

The Melbourne Cup nominations and weights are usually released about a week apart, with the nominations coming first. Melbourne Cup nominations provide the earliest official glimpse into which horses are likely to run in the race. A lot of punters focus on the Melbourne Cup nominations because it can give a good indication of the path that horses are likely to take during their spring campaign.

The 2015 Melbourne Cup nominations will be published here on September 1st.