The Group 1 $5 million Stella Artois Caulfield Cup (2400m) takes place this Saturday and the field of spring stayers likely to contest the mile and a half classic is all but confirmed.

The 2019 Caulfield Cup field has a capacity of 18 starters plus four emergencies and there is an eleventh hour bid on offer to Wednesday’s Group 3 Ladbrokes Coongy Cup winner to make the starting line-up in the Group 1.

Just two horses in the Coongy Cup field remain in Caulfield Cup contention with the Chris Waller-trained Yulong Prince and the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Wolfe in the mix.

A win by either in the Group 3 would see the Michael Moroney’s Sound pushed out of the confirmed Caulfield Cup runners into the spot of first emergency.

That result would then have the Saeed Bin Suroor-trained emergency Red Galileo out of the race as the final emergency, assuming all the eligible horses listed in the likely Caulfield Cup 2019 field below are paid up for at final acceptance stage.

Mirage Dancer looks set to carry the 56kg Caulfield Cup topweight this year, the well-bred Frankel entire to debut down under in the race with Ben Melham riding.

Trainer Chris Waller is vying for his first Caulfield Cup winner, the leading Sydney horseman looking set to saddle-up at least three runners in the event.

Waller has saddled-up 18 horses in the Caulfield Cup since 2010 with his best result being the fifth by Royal Descent in 2013.

This year the stable’s gun galloper Finche, fourth in last year’s Melbourne Cup, is a favourite in Caulfield Cup betting at Ladbrokes.com.au.

Michael Walker will ride the Frankel six-year-old in the Caulfield Cup field with 54.5kg, the horse coming off a narrow second in Flemington’s Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m).

The Turnbull Stakes was won by stablemate Kings Will Dream who has been announced as a non-acceptor.

The non-acceptance by Waller for Kings Will Dream paved the way for the imported Sound to gain a start.

The other notable Caulfield Cup non-acceptor is Richard Hannon’s last-start Ebor Handicap fourth placegetter Raymond Tusk going straight to the Group 1 $8 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) on the first Tuesday of November.

Challenging Finche for favouritism in Caulfield Cup betting at Ladbrokes.com.au is the Japanese raider Mer De Glace to be ridden by Damian Lane.

The 2019 Caulfield Cup field, barriers and jockeys will be confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.

Click here for the latest all-in Caulfield Cup odds.

Likely 2019 Caulfield Cup Field & Jockeys

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Weight
1.	Mirage Dancer	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Ben Melham	56kg
2.	Mustajeer	Kris Lees	Damien Oliver	55.5kg
3.	Mer De Glace	Hisashi Shimiu	Damian Lane	55.5kg
4.	Rostropovich	David Hayes, Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	55.5kg
5.	Finche	Chris Waller	Michael Walker	54.5kg
6.	Gold Mount	Ian Williams	Mark Du Plessis	54.5kg
7.	Red Verdon	Ed Dunlop	TBA	54.5kg
8.	Angel of Truth	Gwenda Markwell	Dean Yendall	54kg
9.	Constantinople	David Hayes, Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Luke Nolen	53kg
10.	Mr Quickie	Phillip Stokes	John Allen	53kg
11.	Crown Prosecutor	Stephen Marsh	Craig Grylls	52.5kg
12.	Vow And Declare	Danny O’Brien	Craig Williams	52.5kg
13.	The Chosen One	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Stephen Baster	52kg
14.	Brimham Rocks	Chris Waller	Michael Dee	52kg
15.	Qafila	David Haye Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Cory Parish	51.5kg
16.	Youngstar	Chris Waller	TBA	52.5kg
17.	Sound	Michael Moroney	James Winks	54kg
18.	Nerfbosc	David Hayes, Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig	TBA	54kg
19e.	True Self	Willie Mullins	TBA	52kg
20e.	Red Galileo	Saeed Bin Suroor	Pat Cosgrave	52.5kg