Melbourne Cup 2014: Your ultimate guide to the race that stops a nation

THE Melbourne Cup field is set. Here’s everything you need to know about the 24 horses in the race that stops a nation.

2013 Melbourne Cup Day Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne - November 5th, Picture by Colleen Petch. Race 7 - Emirates Melbourne Cup 3200m - Trainer Gai Waterhouse holds the cup after winning the cup with Fiorente with Damien Oliver onboard.

THIS year’s Melbourne Cup promises to be one of the most keenly contested in recent memory.

The race that stops the nation begins at 3pm at Flemington Racecourse in Victoria, where a field of 23 (following the scratching of Sea Moon) will battle it out for the $6.2 million prize.

One of the last horses to secure a start was Darren Weir’s Signoff, who posted an easy win in the Lexus Stakes on Derby Day.

MELBOURNE CUP FIELD

3pm: Flemington Race 7, Group 1 3200m Group 1

Prizemoney: $6,000,000 - 1st: $3,600,000. 2nd: 1,080,000. 3rd: $540,000. 4th: $270,000. 5th: 150,000.

1 ADMIRE RAKTI (JPN, barrier 8) Jockey: Zac Purton. Trainer: Tomoyuki Umeda. Odds: $6

2 CAVALRYMAN (GB, 3) Scratched

3 FAWKNER (9) Nicholas Hall, Robert Hickmott. Odds: $7.50

4 RED CADEAUX (GB, 15) Gerald Mosse, Ed Dunlop. Odds: $26

5 PROTECTIONIST (GER, 11) Ryan Moore, Andreas Wohler. Odds: $7.50

6 SEA MOON (GB) Scratched

7 SEISMOS (IRE, 1) Craig Newitt, Marco Botti. Odds: $101

8 JUNOOB (GB, 7) Hugh Bowman, Chris Waller. Odds: $26

9 ROYAL DIAMOND (IRE, 6) Steven Arnold, Johnny Murtagh. Odds: $101

10 GATEWOOD (GB, 22) William Buick, John Gosden. Odds: $101

11 MUTUAL REGARD (IRE, 12) Damien Oliver, Johnny Murtagh. Odds: $10

12 WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ, 13) Glen Boss, Chris Waller. Odds: $17

13 WILLING FOE (USA, 17) James McDonald, Saeed Bin Suroor. Odds: $26

14 MY AMBIVALENT (IRE, 4) Andrea Atzeni, Roger Varian. Odds: $41

15 PRECEDENCE (NZ, 20) Michael Rodd, Bart & James Cummings. Odds: $71

16 BRAMBLES (NZ, 21) Luke Nolen, Peter G Moody. Odds: $71

17 MR O’CEIRIN (NZ, 19) Chad Schofield, Ciaron Maher. Odds: $201

18 AU REVOIR (IRE, 23) Glyn Schofield, Andre Fabre. Odds: $81

19 LIDARI (FR, 10) Ben Melham, Peter G Moody. Odds: $81

20 OPINION (IRE, 14) Tye Angland, Chris Waller. Odds: $61

21 ARALDO (GB, 24) Dwayne Dunn, Michael Moroney. Odds: $26

22 LUCIA VALENTINA (NZ, 2) Kerrin McEvoy, Kris Lees. Odds: $7

23 UNCHAIN MY HEART (5) Dean Yendall, David Hayes & Tom Dabernig. Odds: $101

24 SIGNOFF (IRE, 16) Joao Moreira, Darren Weir. Odds: $7

(all odds courtesy Sportsbet)

Are you the kind of punter who has difficulty reading the form guide? Then you need to check out the most honest form guide around for the Melbourne Cup.

We’ve also got a more serious form guide for those punters who know their way around a racetrack.

If you’re still unsettled on who to back, check out our comprehensive Mug’s Guide which features bios on every horse.

You can read our A-Z of everything you need to know about the Melbourne Cup, or test your knowledge of past Melbourne Cup winners by taking our quiz: Horse name or movie title?

Or, if you’ve ever wondered what type of horse rider you’d make, take this quiz to find out which Melbourne Cup jockey best matches your personality.

Trainer Gai Waterhouse won her first Melbourne Cup in 2013 with the Damien Oliver-ridden Fiorente.

Originally published as Melbourne Cup 2014: Your ultimate guide to the race that stops a nation