The official 2016 Caulfield Cup barrier draw took place on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the mile and a half classic running this Saturday, October 15, with firm favourite Jameka drawing barrier 13.

The $3 million Group 1 BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) drew 20 final acceptors with the full 18 starters plus two emergency runners on standby for a run in Caulfield Race 8.

Heading the Caulfield Cup odds at an easing $3.50 through Ladbrokes.com.au and out to go back-to-back for the punters after the success of Mongolian Khan ($4F in 2015) is the Ciaron Maher-trained Jameka.

She comes off a Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) second and is drawn barrier 13, which last produced a winner in Viewed (2009).

Maher is confident he’s got the favourite in peak form for a successful Caulfield Cup run on the weekend with jockey Nicholas Hall booked for the ride.

“She seems to have come through really well, her prep’s been really smooth,” he told the media post-Caulfield Cup barrier draw.

“She drops to a nice weight.

“She’s got a good record at the trip…and this has always been the target race for her.”

Last year’s winning Caulfield Cup barrier (6 of 18) has produced two winners (since 1983) and is drawn this weekend by the Lee & Anthony Freedman-trained Our Ivanhowe ($26).

The German import ran third in the Caulfield Cup trifecta 12 months ago from gate 13, and is out to go two better this weekend with Dwayne Dunn in the saddle.

Lee Freedman has prepared four Caulfield Cup winners, most recently Mummify (2003), and also prepares the imported Exospheric this year.

Post-Caulfield Cup barriers the Beat Hollow stallion has firmed in from $11 to $10 having drawn gate three.

Damien Oliver rides the galloper first-up on Saturday shooting for his fifth Caulfield Cup winning mount from barrier three, which last produced a winner in Southern Speed (2011).

The last barrier to produce back-to-back Caulfield Cup winners was nine with Taufan’s Melody (1998) and Sky Heights (1999).

Barrier nine has subsequently produced a further two champs, most recently Railings (2005), and with five winners since 1983 it is the most successful recent Caulfield Cup barrier.

The coveted gate nine was drawn this year by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Irish raider Sir Isaac Newton.

Sir Isaac Newton has firmed in from $13 to $12 to win the mile and a half handicap this weekend.

Also at single-figures for the win are the Darren Weir-trained mare Real Love ($8) and the Charlie Appleby-trained British raider Scottish ($7.50) drawn barriers 10 and 7 respectively.

Real Love comes off the JRA Cup win at Moonee Valley and has Craig Williams in the saddle after his third win after going back-to-back on Southern Speed and Dunaden in 2011-12.

Barrier 10 meanwhile last produced a Caulfield Cup winner only three years ago in Fawkner (2013) ridden by Hall who is on this season’s favourite Jameka.

With four winners (since 1983) the other most successful Caulfield Cup barrier is gate seven, Scottish drawn ideally then for Kerrin McEvoy who rode All The Good to victory in 2008.

See below for the full Caulfield Cup 2016 barriers before heading to Ladbrokes.com.au to back your favourites in this weekend’s classic at the hottest odds.

2016 Caulfield Cup Barrier Draw

Caulfield Racecourse – 15/10/2016

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	7x4110x454	PREFERMENT (NZ)	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	15	57kg	115
2	30x5501x58	OUR IVANHOWE (GER)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Dwayne Dunn	6	56.5kg	111
3	11413×1835	EXOSPHERIC (GB)	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Damien Oliver	3	55.5kg	111
4	12251×3121	SCOTTISH (IRE)	Charlie Appleby	Kerrin McEvoy	7	55kg	110
5	x4x2311440	SIR ISAAC NEWTON (GB)	Aidan O’Brien	Colm O’Donoghue	9	55kg	110
6	x4214x8086	TARZINO (NZ)	Mick Price	Craig Newitt	4	54.5kg	109
7	1x9065x808	ALMOONQITH (USA)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Michael Walker	2	54kg	104
8	12x1322x21	SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD (IRE)	John P Thompson	Blake Spriggs	5	53.5kg (inc. 1.5kg penalty)	108
9	114x31215x	ARTICUS (FR)	Andreas Wohler	Zac Purton	11	53kg	105
10	x11113x023	TALLY	John O’Shea	Brenton Avdulla	19	53kg	105
11	45324×4712	JAMEKA	Ciaron Maher	Nicholas Hall	13	52.5kg (incl. 0.5kg penalty)	108
12	132114×271	REAL LOVE	Darren Weir	Craig Williams	10	52.5kg (incl. 0.5kg penalty)	109
13	25305×9340	SET SQUARE	Ciaron Maher	Michael Dee (a)	20	52kg	105
14	6x8222x302	BIG MEMORY (FR)	Tony McEvoy	Chris Parnham	12	51.5kg	98
15	6113×88214	SACRED MASTER (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	8	51.5kg (incl. 0.5kg penalty)	103
16	3057741×69	FANATIC (NZ)	Graeme Sanders	Dean Yendall	16	50.5kg	98
17	31130×9113	PEMBERLEY (NZ)	Ciaron Maher	Ben Allen (a)	17	50.5kg	92
18	01893×4864	GO DREAMING	Grant Kluske	Ms Katelyn Mallyon	1	50.5kg	90
19e	6x7733x867	DE LITTLE ENGINE	Danny O’Brien	Ben E Thompson (a)	14	50.5kg	93
20e	2x1145x524	VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	18	50.5kg	78