The $10 million 2026 edition looms as something of a showdown ( or a potential masterclass) on training methods. It’s Maher v O'Brien. Bring it on. Between them they saddle up more than half the field!
The sound of swift footed horses strikes upon mine ears…
Homer The Iliad
Homer loved horses and wrote of them often. Brave horses, horses of war, myth and legend.
Fierce horses, who galloped with their heavy chariots into battle as if they were light as air. He believed the noble beasts were created from that very element by the gods.
It was the great poet who also coined the famous phrase “hold your horses” - referring to sage advice given by generals in the field - but very applicable to jockeys as they approach the famous Flemington Clocktower on the first Tuesday in November!
Homer particularly adored wine, the mythologising of epic struggles and famous victories - and horses.
He would have loved the Melbourne Cup.
Yes, it’s Cup time again and the wait is over!
We the faithful have each trawled through our own Iliad of brow-furrowing formguides, race videos and expert analysis.
And yet, in our heart of hearts, we know that this heroic devotion to the punter’s duty has probably moved us no closer to finding the Cup winner, than the person who got a hot tip from some bloke at the pub.
Among all the famous horse races conducted in the world, the Melbourne Cup result is the one which most surely rests in the lap of the gods!
It’s Maher v O'Brien and between them they saddle up more than half the field!
In the “Us” corner, our man Ciaron, who deploys a mixed hand.
There are quality imports hitting form at the right time - including the impressive Geelong Cup winner and race favourite Point Of Law. Juja Kibo, Mr Monaco, last year’s third placed Middle Earth and Zahrann all have a case.
Royal Supremacy is there too, but needs to find lengths on his current form, and In amongst this sea of Northern hemisphere bred staying power is the Kiwi mare Shockletz - one of only two NZ - breds in a race once dominated by them.
Shockletz already has the best name award in the bag, now can she do her dad, the 2009 Cup hero Shocking proud?
Maher’s wonderful grey Saint George was looking like a fantastic chance but fell foul of the dreaded scanner.
In the “Them” corner - the Irish maestro Joseph O’Brien, who has won two Cups with his raiders Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020)
Of O'Briens's eleven original nominations, six landed in Australia on a mission to win him a third trophy - but the scanner has done its work on his team too, with Defiantly out of commission.
Sons And Lovers, Trustyourinstinct, last year’s surprise runner up Goodie Two Shoes and the Epsom Derby placed James J Braddock will line up on Tuesday, along with yet another O'Brien trained horse Kizlyar, who beat Defiantly at Royal Ascot before failing to impress on his Australian debut, but who now takes his stable-mate's place in the great race.
Either trainer could easily sweep the trifecta or first four.
Then there’s the Waller factor. The stable’s longtime Cup favourite and top seed Aeliana has gone for a spell after her brave third in the Cox Plate. She would have had to carry 58kg in the Cup, and kudos to the trainer who puts her welfare before his own ego.
Waller is left with outsiders Soul Of Spain, who drew the “winningest” Cup gate 5, and Kiwi warhorse Asterix.
The aura of the modern Melbourne Cup is always enhanced by the formidable presence of those bold Japanese raiders. This year the land of the rising sun sent Stinger Glass our way - unfortunately he too has fallen at the last hurdle, thus allowing the reigning Cups queen Jamie Melham a chance to defend her crown aboard nine year old Future History. He hasn't seen this trip since running poorly in the 2023 Cup.
The gallant gelding So You Are, Bjorn Baker's son of the late great So You Think, forced his way into the field with a great win in the Bendigo Cup, his fourth gritty victory on end under big weights.
What a ripper of a stayer he is, and now his owner- breeder Stuart “Rambo” Ramsey is living the dream after his colt was passed in on a $100,000 reserve as a Magic Millions yearling.
So You Are's ancestress Sky Trist was a super tough staying mare for Lee Freedman who won the 3200m Queens Cup at Flemington, and So You Think himself went close to winning the Cup - on a wet track and basically as a throw at the stumps (even Bart admitted it)
We’d all love to see the beloved champion get a Cup winner!
One horse all too familiar with the two mile assignment at Flemington, and apparently not much of a fan, is the French-bred warhorse Vauban.
He's back again for a fourth attempt. What magic could Gai and Adrian have worked that would get this grand galloper to win the Cup? He arrives second up this time - a new approach from the stable.
Enfjaar was a top run in the Caulfield Cup and looks to give trainer Roger Varian his 30th G1 win and first Melbourne Cup.
Wine Dark Sea for trainer Harry Charlton is part owned by Aussies, and a couple of shares in the Cup hopeful were briefly offered on Inglis Digital last week but were withdrawn before the auction closed. The horse will be ridden by Damian Lane who rode Quest For More (ninth) for the trainer’s father in Prince Of Penzance’s famous Cup.
There's always a widely touted “weight horse” in the Melbourne Cup and this year it seems to be George Boughey’s progressive Hopewell Rock, who has the services of Zac Lloyd and just 53.5kg to carry.
Home grown Cup hero Knight’s Choice found himself in the wilderness for a while but has recently shown a glimpse of the old magic.
Strictly Business stays all day but has done absolutely nothing this prep. Is she just an out and out two-miler looking to spring one of the Cup's famous boilovers?
Zakouma for Grahame Begg is the product of one man's dedicated but unfashionable breeding program, and has the services of Willie the Wizard Pike, fresh from piloting his mate Cosmic Crusader to Cox Plate glory.
The firmly understated Pikey was uncharacteristically exuberant after that win - who knows what the man will do if Zakouma has his head in front on Tuesday.
Rounding out the 2026 field is the out of form US-bred Onesmoothoperator who was once the talk of the town but has run in two Cups and flopped in both.
It's going to be a reasonably wet Cup eve, with a few early showers possible on the big day. I'm expecting a track that's around the soft 5 / 6 range but hopefully no worse!
