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CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 CAULFIELD CUP FORM GUIDE

The Caulfield Cup form guide gives punters all the crucial race and horse information on each runner in that year’s Caulfield Cup field.

Run on a Saturday in late October during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival as the first of the Big 3 majors, the Caulfield Cup form is the best guide punters have of picking a Caulfield Cup winner.

Where To Find The Caulfield Cup Form Guide

The Caulfield Cup form guide is available online at bookmakers including Ladbrokes.com.au as soon as the official field and barriers for the $5 million feature is released the Wednesday of race week.

When you go to bet on the Group 1 mile-and-a-half handicap online, simply click the “Form” link at the top of the Caulfield Cup betting markets to see the full form guide for each runner.

Using a bookie like Ladbrokes for your Caulfield Cup form guide is the easiest and best way to get in on the action as you also have the markets right there, so once you’ve done the form and made your Caulfield Cup betting selections you can back your picks right away.

How To Read A Caulfield Cup Form Guide

While form guides can vary depending on which online sports betting site you choose to use, they do use mostly the same abbreviations and general terminology. Once you know how to read the Caulfield Cup form guide you will be able to access a lot of useful information from your race card alone, which will help you place smarter bets in the Caulfield Cup.

Saddlecloth Number – This is the number of your horse, which you might need to place the bet and which also helps you keep track of your selection during the race. Saddlecloth No. 2 is the most recent to win in 2023 with Without A Fight. 

Barrier – This designates the starting position of your selection and is usually found in brackets behind the horse name. Different horses prefer different starting positions, so you could check out your selections’ history to determine their chances to do well. As the Caulfield Cup is run over a staying distance of 2400m, wider barrier draws are historically not an issue. In fact, eight of the 15 Caulfield Cup winners from 2009 – 23 jumped from a double digit barrier including Dunaden from the outside barrier (18 of 18) in 2012, Mer De Glace from the second widest barrier (17 of 18 in 2019) and Incentivise who also won from the far outside barrier (18 of 18) in 2021.

Weight – This designates the weight your horse will carry during the race. Some Caulfield Cup form guides will have a separate section for weight, others will list it right after the barrier number. Ideally your selection will carry less than 56 kilograms, so keep an eye out for weights below 56kg, but don’t completely discount horse carrying heavier weights. The Caulfield Cup is a handicap race so the higher-rated horses and past Group 1 winners will carry more kilos. Note that two of the Caulfield Cup winners from 2012 – 2019 carried 58kg to victory, while Best Solution carted 57.5kg for his 2018 win.

In 2020 Verry Elleegant (55kg) became the first mare to win carrying more than 54.5kg since Tranquil Star (56kg in 1942)

In 2021 Incentivise (55.5kg) became the latest Caulfield Cup top-weight to win.

In 2022 Durston (51.5kg) carried the lightest Caulfield Cup weight to victory since Master O’Reilly (50.5kg in 2007).

In 2023 Without A Fight (55.5kg) carried the second top-weight to victory.

Age and Sex – You will find the age and the sex of a horse in the same section on most Caulfield Cup form guides. There are five classes when it comes to thoroughbred race horses: Horse (H) – meaning a complete male aged four or more; Mare (M) – a female thoroughbred aged four or more; Colt (C) – a male thoroughbred under the age of four; Filly (F) – a thoroughbred female under the age of four; and Gelding (G) – a male thoroughbred who has been de-sexed.

Four and five year old horses and geldings are thoroughbreds in their prime, so you should look out for these contenders on your Caulfield Cup form guide, although in recent Caulfield Cup history seven-year-old international raiders have stepped up.

Twenty-two mares – most recently Verry Elleegant (2020) – have won the Caulfield Cup.

Pedigree – This section tells you about the Sire and Dam of a horse. The pedigree section can indicate whether a thoroughbred is predestined to do well over certain distances and on different types of ground, as the specialties of the horse’s parents are frequently passed on to their offspring.

Trainer – It can be helpful to know who has trained your selection for the Caulfield Cup. It is advisable to bet on runners trained by greats of the sport, as a trainer’s experience will always reflect on the performance of the horse. Lee Freedman is the most successful Caulfield Cup trainer in the past 30 years preparing four winners, most recently Mummify (2003).

Jockey – A champion jockey will increase a horse’s chance of victory in every race situation. If you don’t know the jockey paired with your Caulfield Cup favourite, check your selection’s racing history to see if the same jockey has performed well on your chosen horse in the past. Thoroughbred champions often work with the same jockey for years once a successful partnership has been established.

Career – In the career section of the Caulfield Cup form guide you can check the number of races your selection has competed in thus far. It will also tell you about the places your favourite runner achieved in previous starts, which can be a great indicator of a thoroughbred’s overall form.

Track Conditions – Possible track conditions are: Fast, Good, Dead, Slow, Heavy and Wet. Check out your selection’s race history to see which conditions best work for them. This will help you calculate your selection’s chances of a Caulfield Cup victory in tough conditions.

Form/Last 6 – This is the series of numbers listed behind a horse’s name, which designate the places the horse recorded in its past six career starts. The most recent race is symbolised by the number on the very right.

The form is given in numbers from 0-9; 0 meaning the horse finished worse than 9th place, while the other numbers simply correspond to the place the horse finished in. While there are other symbols that also appear in the form, the Caulfield Cup form guide at an online betting site will give you more detailed information on the races that makes the symbols unnecessary.