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.

2021 Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw

The official Melbourne Cup 2021 barrier draw will be released live from Flemington Racecourse following the racing action on VRC Derby Day, Saturday October 30, 2021. 

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.

Is the Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw Important?

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 2021 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).

In 2019 Vow And Declare became the first Australian-bred Melbourne Cup winner since Shocking (2009) and won from barrier 21 of 24.

Which Melbourne Cup Barriers are Worst?

There have historically been a few awful Melbourne Cup barriers. The worst leading up to the 2021 Melbourne Cup barrier draw are:

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

Barrier 12 recorded a third win in 2020 with Twilight Payment, while Barriers 2 and 20 have 2 wins. Numbers beyond barrier 24 have not been included, as the number of starters is currently limited to 24 with no emergencies.