The official Melbourne Cup barrier draw is only released a few days before the iconic handicap race takes place at Flemington Racecourse when final acceptances are taken on Victoria Derby Day.  The capacity 24-starter Melbourne Cup field is announced on the Saturday before the race each year.

With the 2017 Melbourne Cup scheduled for Tuesday November 7, 2017  this means the 2017 Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw will be available on November 4, 2017.

2017 Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw

The Melbourne Cup barriers will be published below post-racing on Victoria Derby Day.

READ THE FULL 2017 MELBOURNE CUP BARRIERS & FACTS. 

No.	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x2822x1229	HARTNELL (GB)	G	7	James Cummings	Damian Lane	12	57.5kg	115
2	665111×214	ALMANDIN (GER)	G	8	Robert Hickmott	Frankie Dettori	14	56.5kg	112
3	212×681352	HUMIDOR (NZ)	G	5	Darren Weir	Blake Shinn	13	56kg	112
4	242x11711x	TIBERIAN (FR)	H	6	Alain Couetil	Olivier Peslier	23	55.5kg	110
5	232x1521x6	MARMELO (GB)	H	5	Hughie Morrison	Hugh Bowman	16	55kg	109
6	1132x11x5x	RED CARDINAL (IRE)	G	6	Andreas Wohler	Kerrin McEvoy	24	55kg	109
7	3x45712x23	JOHANNES VERMEER (IRE)	H	5	Aidan O’Brien	Ben Melham	3	54.5kg	108
8	x11x330x90	BONDI BEACH (IRE)	G	6	Robert Hickmott	Michael Walker	1	54kg	106
9	1x2x30x91x	MAX DYNAMITE (FR)	G	8	William Mullins	Zac Purton	2	54kg	107
10	121x5x7620	VENTURA STORM (IRE)	H	5	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Glen Boss	6	54kg	106
11	3642×94491	WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ)	G	9	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	20	54kg	107
12	0x81424440	WICKLOW BRAVE (GB)	G	9	William Mullins	Stephen Baster	8	54kg	107
13	113×550214	BIG DUKE (IRE)	G	6	Darren Weir	Brenton Avdulla	5	53.5kg	104
14	428×320386	US ARMY RANGER (IRE)	H	5	Joseph O’Brien	Jamie Spencer	22	53.5kg	106
15	6510×39341	BOOM TIME	H	6	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Cory Parish	9	53kg (includes 1.0kg penalty)	102
16	031x270x07	GALLANTE (IRE)	G	7	Robert Hickmott	Michael Dee	18	53kg	103
17	746Px61652	LIBRAN (IRE)	G	7	Chris Waller	Dwayne Dunn	7	53kg	107
18	202x024x1x	NAKEETA (GB)	G	7	Iain Jardine	Glyn Schofield	19	53kg	105
19	2612×05442	SINGLE GAZE	M	5	Nick Olive	Kathy O’Hara	11	53kg	108
20	11x6248x22	WALL OF FIRE (IRE)	H	5	Hugo Palmer	Craig Williams	15	53kg	105
21	9P01712x72	THOMAS HOBSON (GB)	G	8	William Mullins	Joao Moreira	21	52kg	103
22	210×140124	REKINDLING (GB)	H	4	Joseph O’Brien	Corey Brown	4	51.5kg	110
23	214×839410	AMELIE’S STAR	M	6	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	10	51kg	103
24	x232521033	CISMONTANE (NZ)	G	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Beau Mertens	17	50kg	84

The latest winning Melbourne Cup barrier draw was 17 when the Lloyd Williams-owned Almandin won from the gate in the 2016 Melbourne Cup Results. He was the first Melbourne Cup winner from barrier 17 since What A Nuisance (1985) and At Talaq (1986) went back-to-back from that alley 30 years before.

Is the Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw Important?

An exact value cannot be placed on drawing a good barrier, but some alleys are clearly better than others in regards to producing Melbourne Cup winners over the years.

Despite the many times the race has been run, there are still barriers that have never produced a winner as well as barriers that have only ever sent off a winner once.

When looking at the Melbourne Cup odds on a site like Ladbrokes.com.au, it pays to keep the effect of the Melbourne Cup barrier draw in mind. While the long distance of the race does reduce the importance of the starting barrier, it doesn’t hurt for your horse to start from one of the first 12 barriers.

Which Melbourne Cup Barriers are Best?

The most successful barriers leading up to the 2017 Melbourne Cup barrier draw are:

• Barrier 5 – 8 wins, last in 2013
• Barrier 11 – 7 wins, last in 2010
• Barrier 10 – 6 wins, last 2014
• Barrier 14 – 6 wins, last in 2005
• Barrier 8 – 5 wins, last in 2008

In the past decade barrier 5 has produced two Melbourne Cup winners with Green Moon (2012) and Fiorente (2013) going back-to-back from the gate.

From 2006 – 2016 barrier 10 has also produced two champions with Delta Blues (2006) and Protectionist (2014).

Which Melbourne Cup Barriers are Worst?

There have historically been a few awful Melbourne Cup barriers. The worst leading up to the 2017 Melbourne Cup barrier draw are:

• Barrier 18 – 0 wins
• Barrier 7 – 2 wins, in 1924 and 2015
• Barrier 15 – 1 win, in 1973

Barriers 2, 12, and 20 all have 2 wins. Numbers beyond barrier 24 have not been included, as the number of starters is currently limited to 24 with no emergencies.