The field and barrier draw for the 2024 Melbourne Cup
Chris Waller copped a terrible hand, Irish trainer Willie Mullins issued an ominous warning to rivals, and Ciaron Maher had a mixed bag at the Melbourne Cup barrier draw.
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Chris Waller enjoyed a successful Derby Day with a Flemington treble two Group 1s but luck deserted the champion trainer in the Melbourne Cup barrier draw.
Caulfield Cup runner-up Buckaroo drew barrier 21 but stayed atop Melbourne Cup markets from Irish raider Vauban, wonderfully positioned in gate 11.
Manzoice, the 2022 Victoria Derby winner coincidently, drew best from the Waller camp with barrier eight.
Kovalica (17), Land Legend (18) and Valiant King (22) rounded out the Waller quintet.
Buckaroo is a $5.50 favourite with Ladbrokes from Vauban ($7), Onesmoothoperator ($8), Sea King ($9) and Absurde ($11).
Master Irish trainer Willie Mullins issued an ominous warning to rivals.
Absurde drew barrier seven on Saturday evening.
“Horses are in great shape, probably better than me after that journey,” Mullins said.
“I got in this morning (from Ireland), they had a little blow, that will be their final gallop and to me they wouldn’t blow out a candle after the little piece of work they did.
“I’m very happy with them, I’m very, very happy with that (barrier draw), I don’t think we can blame barriers or anything like that.
“The weather forecast looks good, I think 25-26 degrees and sunny, we should be able to handle that, last year (was tough) on the Irish horses, 30-plus degrees.”
Champion trainer Ciaron Maher copped a mixed bag of barrier results.
Sydney Cup winner Circle Of Fire drew widest in barrier 24 but Maher has entrusted Mark Zahra, shooting for a Melbourne Cup hat-trick on three different horses, to find a way.
“Twenty-four is ordinary (for Circle Of Fire) … Brew won from there with Kerrin McEvoy,” Maher said.
“Mark (Zahra) is flying, so it won’t matter.
“All the others are pretty good. I think it’s spot on for Interpretation (barrier 14), he will be midfield to two thirds of the way back, you would think.
“(St) George and (Okita) Soushi are pretty much alongside each other (nine and 10).
“It is good for Soushi, he will sit on pace or thereabouts and (St) George is a bit of a sleeper. He is a good horse and he hasn’t really shown it yet.”
Godolphin mare Zardozi, a VRC Oaks winner at Flemington last year, drew sweetly in barrier four for trainer James Cummings.
Zardozi, who placed fourth in the Caulfield Cup two starts back, tuned up for the Melbourne Cup with a solid fifth in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes on Saturday.
Geelong Cup winner gets the all clear
UK trainer Brian Ellison half expected something to go wrong with Melbourne Cup contender Onesmoothoperator so a veterinary scare barely moved the dial for the Yorkshireman.
Onesmoothoperator passed a second vet inspection on Saturday morning after being re-plated.
Ellison said the Geelong Cup winner, to be ridden by Craig Williams on Tuesday, has pulled up sound.
“In some ways everything had gone too well, just waiting for the drama and that was it,” Ellison said.
“He pulled a shoe off and cut his heel, just a bit, he’s sound, he’s sound trotting and he’s sound cantering, but we weren’t comfortable with him walking, and then today he was fine
“He never missed any work, everything is fine.”
Onesmoothoperator drew ideally in barrier 12 for the Melbourne Cup.
Ellison stopped short of looking too far ahead, “still two days to go”, but Onesmoothoperator has thrived at Werribee.
• Kah caps off drama-charged day with Victoria Derby glory
“It’s nice, we brought him out with the owners not expecting to get into the Melbourne Cup, the Geelong Cup was a race we picked out,” Ellison said.
“We didn’t think we were going to win it… everything has gone fantastic, the owners have loved it.
“He’s a really happy horse and sometimes, when you give them one on one attention they thrive on it and he has.”
Twilight Payment in 2020 is the last horse to win the Melbourne Cup from barrier 12.
Japanese raider Warp Speed will jump from barrier three on Tuesday.
Warp Speed disappointed on a wet track in the Caulfield Cup last start but fast ground at Flemington should suit the Japanese stayer.
The great Media Puzzle (2002) is the last horse to win from barrier three.
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The Melbourne Cup is race 7 on Tuesday’s program, and the starter is set to let them fly at 3pm.
Racenet has full Melbourne Cup statistics including winning records and most recent winners.
Here is our 2024 Melbourne Cup barrier draw page and the 2024 Melbourne Cup horses’ page.
Click here to generate Racenet’s 2024 Melbourne Cup sweep.
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Tuesday’s nine-race program commences at 10.45am with the final event to be run at 5.15pm.
The Bureau Of Meteorology forecast for Melbourne is.
Saturday – Mostly sunny. 26.
Sunday – Mostly sunny. 23.
Monday – Partly cloudy. 19.
Tuesday – Mostly sunny. 23.
CLICK HERE to get the fields and formguide for Flemington meeting on Tuesday.
Originally published as The field and barrier draw for the 2024 Melbourne Cup
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