{"id":110228,"date":"2025-10-31T07:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T07:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/110228\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T07:04:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T07:04:07","slug":"melbourne-cup-2025-final-field-order-of-entry-horses-when-are-final-declarations-barrier-draw-weights-will-buckaroo-run-who-is-the-favourite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/110228\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Cup 2025 final field, order of entry, horses, when are final declarations, barrier draw, weights, will Buckaroo run, who is the favourite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cox Plate runner-up Buckaroo is a certain starter in Tuesday\u2019s Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

Managing owner Ozzie Kheir confirmed the Chris Waller-trained galloper would tackle the $10 million contest on Melbourne radio on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Waller said on Tuesday morning Buckaroo was \u201ca 50\/50 chance\u201d to run in the Melbourne Cup but the owners would have the final say.<\/p>\n

Watch live coverage of the 2025 Spring Racing Carnival events with Racing.com available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Waller confirmed Buckaroo had passed his compulsory pre-race scans.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Craig Williams will ride Buckaroo, which is a $9 chance in Melbourne Cup betting.<\/p>\n

He finished ninth in the race last year, and is coming off his fighting second to star mare Via Sistina in last Saturday\u2019s Cox Plate at The Valley.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s Bendigo Cup, won by Sayedaty Sadaty, offered another chance for hopefuls to force their way into the field although winning it does not guarantee a golden ticket for the great race.<\/p>\n

A field of 40 hopefuls remain in contention for the Melbourne Cup after Monday\u2019s third acceptances for Tuesday\u2019s $10 million event.<\/p>\n

The Robert Hickmott-trained Revelare, which was guaranteed a Melbourne Cup start after winning last month\u2019s Archer Stakes, was withdrawn on Monday after the gelding pulled up lame following the Caulfield Cup.<\/p>\n

CUP ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n

“Half Yours” installed as Cup favourite | 02:16<\/p>\n

English galloper Onesmoothoperator and the Paul Preusker-trained Torranzino became ballot exempt for the Melbourne Cup after their respective wins in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup and Geelong Cup.<\/p>\n

Racing Victoria\u2019s chief handicapper David Hegan penalised Onesmoothoperator 1kg for his Moonee Valley Gold Cup win, taking his Melbourne Cup weight to 53kg.<\/p>\n

Hegan decided against penalising Torranzino for his Geelong Cup win, leaving him on 51kg for the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

The Victoria Racing Club will declare the Melbourne Cup field on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

MORE RACING<\/p>\n

DERBY DAY PREVIEW: PREDICTIONS & MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

GOLDEN EAGLE FORM GUIDE: RUNNER-BY-RUNNER GUIDE<\/a><\/p>\n

Melbourne Cup Carnival launch underway | 03:29<\/p>\n

STAR IMPORT PASSES KEY TEST (Brad Waters, punters.com.au<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Melbourne Cup equal favourite Al Riffa has cleared one major hurdle in his attempt to give Irish trainer Joseph O\u2019Brien his third win in Australia\u2019s greatest race.<\/p>\n

Al Riffa is a $6 chance to join Rekindling and Twilight Payment as Melbourne Cup winners for the son of training legend Aidan O\u2019Brien, who is yet to win Flemington\u2019s showpiece.<\/p>\n

NSW-based syndicators Australian Bloodstock bought a controlling share in the six-year-old stallion after his easy win in the Group 2 Curragh Cup in July, four weeks before the stayer won the Group 1 Irish St Leger.<\/p>\n

Sean Corby riding Al Riffa during a trackwork session at Werribee Racecourse on October 17, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Vintage Crop won the Irish St Leger and Melbourne Cup in 1993 but no horse, not even champions Vinnie Roe and Yeats, have since been able to complete the double.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien\u2019s representative Sean Corby said Al Riffa had settled into the Werribee quarantine centre well since arriving on a gruelling 40-hour flight from London.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s fine. He travelled over really well and everything has gone smooth so we\u2019re really happy up until now,\u201d Corby said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done nearly a couple of weeks now and we\u2019re very happy with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t lose any weight at all on the journey. He travelled over very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOW DOES THE MELBOURNE CUP ORDER OF ENTRY WORK?<\/p>\n

The Melbourne Cup Order of Entry<\/a> dictates which horses make the field for the Flemington event.<\/p>\n

Of the 24 Melbourne Cup entrants who make the cut, up to 10 are winners of the Ballot Exemption or Golden Ticket races (like the Geelong Cup) while the remaining 14 or more are determined by weight.<\/p>\n

Those weights can change based on performances between September and November 1 and are determined by Racing Victoria\u2019s chief handicapper.<\/p>\n

The final field will be announced at around 4:30pm on Saturday November 1, before the Melbourne Cup runs at 3pm on Tuesday November 4.<\/p>\n

First woman to win the Caulfield Cup! | 00:56<\/p>\n

Melbourne Cup declarations schedule (All times AEDT)<\/p>\n

Final Declarations and Field: 4:30pm Saturday November 1<\/p>\n

Barrier draw: 5:30pm Saturday November 1<\/p>\n

Ballot exempt races<\/p>\n

The Bart Cummings, Caulfield Cup, Andrew Ramsden, Cox Plate, Lexus Archer Stakes, Roy Higgins Quality, Geelong Cup, Moonee Valley Gold Cup, Ebor Handicap and Belmont Gold Cup<\/p>\n

International races where winner is invited<\/p>\n

The Arlington Million, the San Juan Capistrano Handicap in the USA, the Doncaster Cup in the UK, the Irish St. Leger, the Tenno Sho and Sankei Sho in Japan<\/p>\n

Current Melbourne Cup Order of Entry<\/p>\n

As of Monday October 27<\/p>\n

Ballot Order – Horse – Trainer\/s – Weight<\/p>\n

1= HALF YOURS Tony & Calvin McEvoy 53kg (2.0kg penalty)<\/p>\n

1= ONESMOOTHOPERATOR (USA) Brian Ellison 52kg (1.0kg penalty)<\/p>\n

1= PARCHMENT PARTY (USA) William Mott 52kg<\/p>\n

1= TORRANZINO (NZ) Paul Preusker 51kg<\/p>\n

1= VALIANT KING (GB) Chris Waller 51kg<\/p>\n

6 AL RIFFA (FR) Joseph O\u2019Brien 59kg<\/p>\n

7 BUCKAROO (GB) Chris Waller 57kg<\/p>\n

8 ARAPAHO (FR) Bjorn Baker 56.5kg<\/p>\n

9 VAUBAN (FR) Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 56.5kg<\/p>\n

10 CHEVALIER ROSE (JPN) Hisashi Shimizu 55.5kg<\/p>\n

11 PRESAGE NOCTURNE (IRE) Alessandro Botti 55.5kg<\/p>\n

12 FURTHUR (IRE) Andrew Balding 52kg<\/p>\n

13 MIDDLE EARTH (GB) Ciaron Maher 54.5kg<\/p>\n

14 MEYDAAN (IRE) Simon & Ed Crisford 54kg<\/p>\n

15 LAND LEGEND (FR) Chris Waller 53.5kg<\/p>\n

16 SMOKIN\u2019 ROMANS (NZ) Ciaron Maher 53.5kg<\/p>\n

17 ABSURDE (FR) Willie Mullins 53.5kg<\/p>\n

18 FLATTEN THE CURVE (FR) Henk Grewe 53.5kg<\/p>\n

19 RIVER OF STARS (IRE) Chris Waller 51.5kg<\/p>\n

20 MORE FELONS (IRE) Chris Waller 53kg<\/p>\n

21 GOODIE TWO SHOES (IRE) Joseph O\u2019Brien 51.5kg<\/p>\n

22 CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD (IRE) Kris Lees 53kg<\/p>\n

23 ATHABASCAN (FR) John O\u2019Shea & Tom Charlton 51.5kg<\/p>\n

24 ROYAL SUPREMACY (IRE) Ciaron Maher 51kg<\/p>\n

25 MARK TWAIN (NZ) Roger James & Robert Wellwood 51kg<\/p>\n

26 BIRDMAN (IRE) Chris Waller 51kg<\/p>\n

27 POST IMPRESSIONIST (IRE) Anthony & Sam Freedman 51kg<\/p>\n

28 SCARY (NZ) Emma-Lee & David Browne 51kg<\/p>\n

29 TRAV (NZ) Raymond Connors 51kg<\/p>\n

30 ETNA ROSSO (IRE) Chris Waller 51kg<\/p>\n

31 GRAND PIERRO Jason Warren 51kg<\/p>\n

32 WHISKY ON THE HILL (GB) Glen Thompson 51kg<\/p>\n

33 INTERPRETATION (IRE) Ciaron Maher 51kg<\/p>\n

34 DON DIEGO DE VEGA (FR) Annabel & Rob Archibald 51kg<\/p>\n

35 SAYEDATY SADATY (IRE) Ciaron Maher 51kg<\/p>\n

36 FERNAO (IRE) Annabel & Rob Archibald 51kg<\/p>\n

37 GOLDEN SNAP (JPN) Katsunori Tanaka 51.5kg<\/p>\n

38 = QUIETNESS (GB) John O\u2019Shea & Tom Charlton 51kg<\/p>\n

38 = SO YOU ARE Stirling Osland 51kg<\/p>\n

38 = STAR OF INDIA (IRE) Chris Waller 51kg<\/p>\n

Portions of this article were originally published by Punters.com.au <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cox Plate runner-up Buckaroo is a certain starter in Tuesday\u2019s Melbourne Cup. Managing owner Ozzie Kheir confirmed the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[79033,79045,12587,79021,79049,79023,79020,2300,85,2652,79030,79019,79024,79042,67635,79014,60490,79032,79044,53030,79025,79026,79038,79047,79048,79029,79015,2024,79043,79039,9499,79046,1759,79016,42081,79035,1619,79031,123,79052,59256,111,139,64,13902,53127,69,2659,79034,42078,79051,79036,79022,79018,79017,79040,79013,79053,79054,213,79055,79050,2025,13883,79037,2821,79027,79028,79041],"class_list":["post-110228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-acceptance-deadline","tag-aidan-obrien","tag-america","tag-andrew-balding","tag-andrew-ramsden","tag-anthony-ampampampamp-sam-freedman","tag-archer-stakes","tag-asia","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-bloodstock","tag-barrier-draw","tag-bjorn-baker","tag-brad-waters","tag-brian-ellison","tag-call-looms","tag-calvin-mcevoy","tag-carnival-launch-underwayracing","tag-chief-handicapper","tag-chris-waller","tag-cup-carnival-launch","tag-cup-order","tag-david-browne","tag-david-hegan","tag-declarations-schedule","tag-eastern-asia","tag-entry-work","tag-europe","tag-final-field","tag-gai-waterhouse-ampampampamp-adrian-bott","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-cup","tag-japan","tag-jason-warren","tag-joseph-obrien","tag-kris-lees","tag-london","tag-mark-twain","tag-melbourne","tag-middle-earth","tag-moonee-valley","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-nz","tag-oceania","tag-ozzie-kheir","tag-parchment-party","tag-passes-key-test","tag-paul-preusker","tag-presage-nocturne","tag-raymond-connors","tag-robert-hickmott","tag-roy-higgins","tag-sam-freedman","tag-sean-corby","tag-simon-ampampampamp-ed-crisford","tag-sports","tag-star-import-passes","tag-syndicators-australian","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-valley-gold","tag-victoria","tag-vince-caligiuri","tag-william-mott","tag-willie-mullins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}