2024 Melbourne Cup Barrier Draw

Tara Madgwick - Saturday November 2

The all important barrier draw for the world’s richest handicap, the $8.5million Group I VRC Melbourne Cup (3200m) has been held for a field which contains horses bred in seven countries and trained in four.

Buckaroo (GB) has drawn gate 21 - image Grant Courtney.

Race favourite Buckaroo will be looking to keep the winning run going for champion trainer Chris Waller, although it won’t be easy from gate 21, while Absurde (FR) who ran boldly last year for seventh and has raced well this year is well placed from gate seven.

Jamie Kah and Ciaron Maher will combine with Okita Soushi, who has gate 10 and the only horse backing up from having raced at Flemington today is Zardozi, who ran fifth in the G1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) and jumps from gate 4.

The field for the 2024 Melbourne Cup is:

No - Horse - Sire - Trainer - Jockey - Barrier - Weight

1 - Vauban (Fr) - (6 Galiway (GB)) - Willie Mullins - William Buick - 11 - 55.5

2 - Buckaroo (GB) - (6g Fastnet Rock) - Chris Waller - Joao Moreira - 21 - 54.5

3 - Circle Of Fire (GB) - (5h Almanzor (Fr)) - Ciaron Maher - Mark Zahra - 24- 54.5

4 - Warp Speed (Jpn) - (6h Drefong (USA)) - Noboru Takagi - Akira Sugawara - 3- 54.5

5 - Kovalica (NZ) - (5g Ocean Park (NZ)) - Chris Waller - Damian Lane – 17 - 53.5

6 - Sharp 'N' Smart (NZ) - (5g Redwood (GB)) - Graeme & Deborah Rogerson - Michael Dee – 15 - 53.5

7 - Just Fine (Ire) - (7g Sea The Stars (Ire)) - Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott - Jye McNeil - 13 - 53

8 - Land Legend (Fr) - (5g Galileo (Ire)) - Chris Waller - Zac Purton - 18- 53

9 - Absurde (Fr) - (7g Fastnet Rock) - Willie Mullins - Kerrin McEvoy - 7- 52.5

10 - Athabascan (Fr) - (6g Almanzor (Fr)) - John O'Shea & Tom Charlton - Zac Lloyd - 2- 52

11 - Knight's Choice - (5g Extreme Choice) - John Symons & Sheila Laxon – Robbie Dolan- 6- 51.5

12 - Okita Soushi (Ire) - (7h Galileo (Ire)) - Ciaron Maher - Jamie Kah -10 - 51

13 - Onesmoothoperator (USA) - (7g Dialed In (USA)) - Brian Ellison - Craig Williams - 12- 51

14-Zardozi (4m Kingman) – James Cummings- A Atzeni – 4- 51

15 - Sea King (GB) - (6g Sea The Stars (Ire)) - Harry Eustace – Hollie Doyle - 1 - 50.5

16 - Valiant King (GB) - (5g Roaring Lion (USA)) - Chris Waller – C Newitt - 22- - 50.5

17 - Fancy Man (Ire) - (7g Pride Of Dubai) - Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald - Ron Stewart - 19 - 50

18 - Interpretation (Ire) - (7g Galileo (Ire)) - Ciaron Maher - Teo Nugent - 14- 50

19 - Manzoice - (5g Almanzor (Fr)) - Chris Waller – Declan Bates- 8- 50

20 - Mostly Cloudy (Ire) - (6g Harzand (Ire)) - Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young - Karis Teetan - 16- 50

21 - Positivity (NZ) - (4m Almanzor (Fr)) - Andrew Forsman - Winona Costin - 20- 50

22 - Saint George (GB) - (5h Roaring Lion (USA)) - Ciaron Maher – Tyler Schiller - 9- 50

23 - The Map - (6m Alpine Eagle) - Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray - Rachel King - 23- 50

24 - Trust In You (NZ) - (6g Sweynesse) - Bruce Wallace & Grant Cooksley - Mark Du Plessis - 5- 50

Advertisment

More Reading...

Sires With Winners - Friday December 19

Here is the full list of 78 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.

Sword of State Yearlings to Lure Buyers to Karaka

Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State was represented by yet another highly promising two-year-old when the Bjorn Baker-trained Warwoven ran out an impressive winner of the TAB Plate (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday.

Mega Maiden Bonus for Up-And-Comer Chilling Out (NZ)

A lucrative victory in Wednesday’s NZB Mega Maiden Series (1400m) at Ruakaka could be a stepping stone to bigger things for Chilling Out (NZ) (Savabeel).

Sires With Winners - Monday December 22

Here is the full list of 20 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.

Cambridge Stud Looking Forwards to 2026 with Sword of State

Young Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State has landed another timely winning blow across the Tasman.

Widden Produce the Magic Winners

The beauty of buying a Magic Millions yearling is their eligibility for a rich program of races scheduled around the country and no farm has a better record for producing the winners of these races than Widden Stud with Unit Five the latest name added to the list.

G3 Eulogy Shines Spotlight On Emerging NZB Filly of the Year Contenders

Undefeated filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) has dominated the early stages of the 2025-26 NZB Filly of the Year Series, but the complexion of the series might start to change with this weekend’s fifth leg.

Rising Northern Hemisphere Star for Ghaiyyath

As we come to the end of 2025, the stallion sitting on top of the Australian Second Season Sires table is Ghaiyyath (IRE) and one of his promising three year-olds in the Northern Hemisphere this year is Opera Ballo, a commanding winner of the Group II Al Rashidiya (1m1f) at Meydan overnight.

2026 Magic Millions Order of Entry 2YO and 3YO Updated

Racing Queensland have today released order of entry updates for the rich $3million Magic Millions 2YO Classic and 3YO Guineas to be run at the Gold Coast on January 17 with last week’s three 2YO debutants coming into the top 10.

Apulia Unleashes Devastating Perth Cup Trial

Lightly raced five year old entire Apulia produced one of the best Perth Cup trials seen in years when he produced a finish Bernborough himself would have admired to take the weight for age G2 Ted Van Heemst Stakes at Ascot.