UPDATE: No. 10 Athabascan (2) has come out of the 2024 Melbourne Cup field.

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Chris Waller‘s Caulfield Cup runner-up Buckaroo will start favourite out wide from barrier 21 in Tuesday’s Group 1 $8.56 million Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) with the 24-horse field for the 164th edition of the great race now confirmed.

Final Melbourne Cup 2024 acceptances are out, and Buckaroo is one of a bumper five Waller-trained contenders as the master horseman chases his second win following Verry Elleegant in 2021.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2024 MELBOURNE CUP BARRIER DRAW STATISTICS

Waller’s 2022 Victoria Derby winner Manzoice, to be ridden by Declan Bates, made the cut on Saturday with the withdrawal of Kiwi galloper Mahrajaan who became the latest in a long list of Melbourne Cup horses ruled out by Racing Victoria stewards due to their CT scans.

Along with the favourite Buckaroo and triple-figure roughie Manzoice Waller will also saddle-up Kovalica coming off a Cox Plate sixth, Caulfield Cup third placegetter Land Legend who looks nice value on Tuesday, and Valiant King.

Joao Moreira will partner this year’s Melbourne Cup favourite who looks the tough to beat top elect despite not having won over further than 1800m ahead of his two-mile test with a very manageable 54.5kg.

Chris Waller Trained 2024 Melbourne Cup Horses

• Buckaroo (Joao Moreira)
• Kovalica (Damian Lane)
• Land Legend (Zac Purton)
• Valiant King (Craig Newitt)
• Manzoice (Declan Bates)

Three of the past seven Melbourne Cup winners were internationally trained with Rekindling (2017), Cross Counter (2018), and Twilight Payment (2020).

This year there are five raiders left in contention with the best in Melbourne Cup betting being the Willie Mullins-trained Vauban back for a second shot after running 14th as the beaten favourite behind Without A Fight last year.

Vauban, who will carry the 55.5kg Melbourne Cup topweight on Tuesday, was last seen running of second in the Group 1 Irish St Leger (2816m) which is always a strong form race.

2024 Melbourne Cup Top-Weight

• Vauban (55.5kg)

Mullins and the team are confident the horse can atone for his flop last year and the bookies agree.

Mullins will also saddle-up last year’s Ebor Handicap winner Absurde in his bid at Melbourne Cup glory down under.

Absurde also ran in the 2023 Melbourne Cup finishing seventh, but he is at longer odds than his stablemate to improve and win in 2024.

He is a two-time winner from his five starts over the past 12 months but neither win was in Group class suggesting he’s not going as good as the other Irish visitor.

Internationally Trained 2024 Melbourne Cup Horses (Outside Australia & New Zealand)

• Warp Speed (Noboru Takagi)
• Vauban (Willie Mullins)
• Absurde (Willie Mullins)
• Onesmoothoperator (Brian Ellison)
• Sea King (Harry Eustace)

Vauban will have English hoop William Buick aboard on Tuesday, while Absurde will be partnered by three-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy chasing his record-equaling fourth success.

Japan’s Warp Speed out to join Delta Blues (2006) as the only Japanese-trained winners of the Melbourne Cup gets his chance to atone after being ridden conservatively for a disappointing Australian debut in the Caulfield Cup.

The horse ran 13th some 16 lengths beaten but has winning form up to 3000m, presents fitter for the run, and can make amends at a price now.

Harry Eustace‘s impressive Bendigo Cup winner Sea King and the Brian Ellison-trained Onesmoothoperator who put them to bed in the Ladbrokes Geelong Cup are the other international visitors both with strong claims to take out the 2024 edition of the ‘Race That Stops a Nation’.

Sea King, sixth in the Ebor before coming down under, will carry 50.5kg with Hollie Doyle riding after making a mess of his Bendigo Cup rivals with a 3.75 length romp home.

Onesmoothoperator will be ridden by Craig Williams, who won the Cup back in 2019 aboard Vow And Declare and has overcome a lead-up scare to be given the all clear to run.

He was under a cloud earlier after a cut was found in his heel but was subsequently reshoed and re-examined with all parties happy for him to line-up in the famous Flemington Race 7 on Tuesday.

Fellow raiders Media Puzzle (2002), Americain (2010), Dunaden (2011) all completed the Geelong Cup – Melbourne Cup double which bodes well for Onesmoothoperator in a far from vintage edition of the latter this year.

Melbourne Cup Winning Jockeys Riding in 2024

• Kerrin McEvoy (Absurde)
• Mark Zahra (Circle Of Fire)
• Craig Williams (Onesmoothoperator)
• Jye McNeil (Just Fine)

Mark Zahra, who famously opted to come off Gold Trip who he rode to victory in 2022 to partner the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight on 56.5kg and salute last year, will chase a third consecutive Melbourne Cup victory in 2024 riding Circle Of Fire.

One of four 2024 Melbourne Cup contenders for Ciaron Maher, who trained Gold Trip in 2022 in partnership with David Eustace, Circle Of Fire is a proven two miler having won the Sydney Cup but hasn’t been in terrific form this spring including a last start Caulfield Cup 10th.

The other Maher-trained runners are last start Ladbrokes Moonee Valley Gold Cup winner Okita Soushi, Geelong Cup runner-up Interpretation, and late inclusion due to the high attrition rate Saint George.

2024 Melbourne Cup Field: Trainers with The Most Runners

• Chris Waller (5) – Buckaroo, Kovalica, Land Legend, Valiant King, Manzoice
• Ciaron Maher (4) – Circle Of Fire, Okita Soushi, Interpretation, Saint George
• Willie Mullins (2) – Vauban, Absurde

Both Okita Soushi, when Irish-trained by Joseph O’Brien, and Interpretation also ran in last year’s Melbourne Cup finishing 11th and 6th respectively.

2023 Melbourne Cup Contenders Back in 2024

• Interpretation (6th)
• Absurde (7th)
• Okita Soushi (11th)
• Vauban (14th)

Michelle Payne on 100/1 outsider Prince Of Penzance in 2015 is the only Melbourne Cup winning female rider to date but there will be a record four female jockeys in the event this year.

Female Jockeys With a 2024 Melbourne Cup Ride

• Jamie Kah (Okita Soushi)
• Hollie Doyle (Sea King)
• Rachel King (The Map)
• Winona Costin (Positivity)

Verry Elleegant in 2021, who tragically passed away in foal earlier this year, became the first Melbourne Cup winning mare since the Makybe Diva three-peat (2003-05).

This year there are three female horses in the mix with the Godolphin-raced Zardozi coming off a Caulfield Cup fourth, Golden Ticket holder for her Andrew Ramsden win The Map, and New Zealander Positivity who won the Naturalism earlier this prep.

2024 Melbourne Cup Mares

• Zardozi (James Cummings)
• The Map (Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray)
• Positivity (Andrew Forsman)

The 2024 Melbourne Cup is set to run as Flemington Race 7 at 3:00pm (AEDT) on Tuesday the 5^th of November.

Flemington R7

Final Race time: 

1st	11. Knight's Choice (5) J: Robbie Dolan51.5kg x9005T: J G Symons & S Laxon	81.00WIN 18.00PLACE
2nd	4. Warp Speed (2) J: Akira Sugawara54.5kg 325x0T: N Takagi	26.00WIN 7.00PLACE
3rd	12. Okita Soushi (9) J: Jamie Kah51kg x8021T: Ciaron Maher	19.00WIN 6.50PLACE
4th	14. Zardozi (3) J: Andrea Atzeni51kg 65245T: James Cummings	14.00WIN 4.50PLACE
5th	9. Absurde (6) J: Kerrin McEvoy52.5kg 1x41xT: Willie Mullins	10.00WIN 3.50PLACE
6th	3. Circle Of Fire (23) J: Mark Zahra54.5kg 1x890T: Ciaron Maher	23.00WIN 6.50PLACE
7th	17. Fancy Man (18) J: Ron Stewart50kg 0x536T: Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald	81.00WIN 17.00PLACE
8th	8. Land Legend (17) J: Zac Purton53kg x0613T: Chris Waller	14.00WIN 4.80PLACE
9th	2. Buckaroo (20) J: Joao Moreira54.5kg 81122T: Chris Waller	6.50WIN 2.50PLACE
10th	5. Kovalica (16) J: Damian Lane53.5kg x3426T: Chris Waller	26.00WIN 7.00PLACE
11th	1. Vauban (10) J: William Buick55.5kg 24312T: Willie Mullins	8.00WIN 2.90PLACE
12th	13. Onesmoothoperator (11) J: Craig Williams51kg 21741T: Brian Ellison	7.00WIN 2.70PLACE
13th	16. Valiant King (21) J: Craig Newitt50.5kg 6x009T: Chris Waller	91.00WIN 18.00PLACE
14th	15. Sea King (1) J: Hollie Doyle50.5kg 136x1T: Harry Eustace	12.00WIN 4.00PLACE
15th	18. Interpretation (13) J: Teodore Nugent50kg 00862T: Ciaron Maher	21.00WIN 6.00PLACE
16th	6. Sharp 'N' Smart (14) J: Michael Dee53.5kg x0203T: Graeme & Debbie Rogerson	51.00WIN 12.00PLACE
17th	24. Trust In You (4) J: Mark Du Plessis50kg 63044T: Bruce Wallace & Grant Cooksley	71.00WIN 17.00PLACE
18th	20. Mostly Cloudy (15) J: Karis Teetan50kg 2x440T: Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	101.00WIN 19.00PLACE
19th	19. Manzoice (7) J: Declan Bates50kg x2307T: Chris Waller	126.00WIN 23.00PLACE
20th	21. Positivity (19) J: Winona Costin50kg x2178T: Andrew Forsman	101.00WIN 20.00PLACE
21st	23. The Map (22) J: Rachel King50kg x9056T: Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray	71.00WIN 15.00PLACE
22nd	22. Saint George (8) J: Tyler Schiller50kg x8495T: Ciaron Maher	23.00WIN 6.50PLACE
23rd	7. Just Fine (12) J: Jye McNeil53kg 05010T: G Waterhouse & A Bott	35.00WIN 10.00PLACE

For current odds on all of our live racing markets, please visit www.ladbrokes.com.au/racing. Data retrieved: 21/05/2026 11:22:50 PM (Australia/Brisbane)

View Results

2024 Melbourne Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw

1. Vauban (FR) (Willie Mullins) to be ridden by William Buick (55.5kg) from barrier 11

2. Buckaroo (GB) (Chris Waller) to be ridden by Joao Moreira (54.5kg) from barrier 21

3. Circle Of Fire (GB) (Ciaron Maher) to be ridden by Mark Zahra (54.5kg) from barrier 24

4. Warp Speed (JPN) (Noboru Takagi) to be ridden by Akira Sugawara (54.5kg) from barrier 3

5. Kovalica (NZ) (Chris Waller) to be ridden by Damian Lane (53.5kg) from barrier 17

6. Sharp ‘n’ Smart (NZ) (Graeme & Deborah Rogerson) to be ridden by Michael Dee (53.5kg) from barrier 15

7. Just Fine (IRE) (Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott) to be ridden by Jye McNeil (53kg -includes 0.5kg penalty) from barrier 13

8. Land Legend (FR) (Chris Waller) to be ridden by Zac Purton (53kg – includes 1.0kg penalty) from barrier 18

9. Absurde (FR) (Willie Mullins) to be ridden by Kerrin McEvoy (52.5kg) from barrier 7

10. Athabascan (FR) (John O’Shea & Tom Charlton) to be ridden by Zac Lloyd (a) (52kg) from barrier 2

11. Knight’s Choice (John Symons & Sheila Laxon) to be ridden by Robbie Dolan (51.5kg) from barrier 6

12. Okita Soushi (IRE) (Ciaron Maher) to be ridden by Jamie Kah (51kg – includes 1.0kg penalty) from barrier 10

13. Onesmoothoperator (USA) (Brian Ellison) to be ridden by Craig Williams (51kg – includes 1.0kg penalty) from barrier 12

14. Zardozi (James Cummings) to be ridden by Andrea Atzeni (51kg) from barrier 4

15. Sea King (GB) (Harry Eustace) to be ridden by Hollie Doyle (50.5 includes 0.5 penalty kg) from barrier 1

16. Valiant King (GB) (Chris Waller) to be ridden by Craig Newitt (50.5kg) from barrier 22

17. Fancy Man (IRE) (Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald) to be ridden by Ron Stewart (50kg) from barrier 19

18. Interpretation (IRE) (Ciaron Maher) to be ridden by Teo Nugent (50kg) from barrier 14

19. Manzoice (Chris Waller) to be ridden by Declan Bates (50kg) from barrier 8

20. Mostly Cloudy (IRE) (Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young) to be ridden by Karis Teetan (50kg) from barrier 16

21. Positivity (NZ) (Andrew Forsman) to be ridden by Winona Costin (50kg) from barrier 20

22. Saint George (GB) (Ciaron Maher) to be ridden by Tyler Schiller (50kg) from barrier 9

23. The Map (Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillvray) to be ridden by Rachel King (50kg) from barrier 23

24. Trust In You (NZ) (Bruce Wallace & Grant Cooksley) to be ridden by Mark Du Plessis (50kg) from barrier 5