The Godolphin owned Best Solution will head the final twenty-four horse field for the 2018 Group 1 $7.3m Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday.
Avilius, above, is in the final field for the 2018 Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Best Solution is one three Melbourne Cup runners to wear the famous royal blue colours with the James Cummings trained Avilius and Charlie Appleby’s Cross Counter also lining up in ‘The Race That Stops A Nation’.
English stayer A Prince Of Arran has leapfrogged into the Melbourne Cup field by winning the Group 3 $300,000 Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington and gets in on the lightweight of 53kg.
Eleven international trained stayers are included in the final field and as well as Best Solution and Cross Counter, the foreigners will be represented with A Prince Of Arron, The Cliffsofmoher, Magic Circle, Muntahaa, Chestnut Coat, Rostropovich, Marmelo, Yucatan and Nakeeta.
Sydney’s leading trainer Chris Waller will saddle up three runners in the Melbourne Cup, veteran stayer Who Shot Thebarman, Queensland Oaks winner Youngstar and the French import Finche.
The Kiwis will also be trying to take the Melbourne Cup back to New Zealand with the Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott trained Sir Charles Road and Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman’s Zacada make the final twenty-four.
Victoria’s leading trainer Darren Weir won the 2015 Melbourne Cup with Prince Of Penzance and will have English import Red Cardinal running for him this year.
Final Field for the 2018 Melbourne Cup (3200m)
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | x3195x1111 | BEST SOLUTION (IRE) | Saeed Bin Suroor | Pat Cosgrave | 57.5kg | – | 114 | |
| 2 | x512433x43 | THE CLIFFSOFMOHER (IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | Ryan Moore | 56.5kg | – | 112 | |
| 3 | 57x150x11x | MAGIC CIRCLE (IRE) | Ian Williams | Corey Brown | 56kg | – | 111 | |
| 4 | 5x211250x0 | CHESTNUT COAT (JPN) | Yoshito Yahagi | Yuga Kawada | 55.5kg | – | 110 | |
| 5 | 1796x4341x | MUNTAHAA (IRE) | John Gosden | Jim Crowley | 55.5kg | – | 110 | |
| 6 | 144x1132x0 | SOUND CHECK (GER) | Michael Moroney | Jordan Childs | 55.5kg | – | 110 | |
| 7 | x6731x7694 | WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ) | Chris Waller | Ben Melham | 55.5kg | – | 110 | |
| 8 | 5462×02410 | ACE HIGH | David Payne | Tye Angland | 55kg | – | 110 | |
| 9 | 1x69x2112x | MARMELO (GB) | Hughie Morrison | Hugh Bowman | 55kg | – | 109 | |
| 10 | 3326×11114 | AVILIUS (GB) | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | 54.5kg | 1.5kg | 109 | |
| 11 | 2x436013x1 | YUCATAN (IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | James McDonald | 54.5kg | 2.5kg | 108 | |
| 12 | 56164×5266 | AUVRAY (FR) | Richard Freedman | Tommy Berry | 54kg | – | 107 | |
| 13 | 13x655x1x3 | FINCHE (GB) | Chris Waller | Zac Purton | 54kg | – | 107 | |
| 0 | x5x0x08030 | RED CARDINAL (IRE) | Darren Weir | Damien Oliver | 54kg | – | 102 | |
| 15 | 21x05x4059 | VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE) | Michael Moroney | Patrick Moloney | 54kg | – | 104 | |
| 16 | 7829×79401 | VENTURA STORM (IRE) | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Mark Zahra | 54kg | – | 105 | |
| 17 | 2188632×31 | A PRINCE OF ARRAN (GB) | Charlie Fellowes | Michael Walker | 53kg | – | 105 | |
| 18 | 1x5x005770 | NAKEETA (GB) | Iain Jardine | Regan Bayliss | 53kg | – | 105 | |
| 19 | 4513×01473 | SIR CHARLES ROAD | Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott | Dwayne Dunn | 53kg | – | 102 | |
| 20 | 58402×0080 | ZACADA (NZ) | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Damian Lane | 53kg | – | 100 | |
| 21 | 231130×341 | RUNAWAY | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Stephen Baster | 52kg | 1.5kg | 102 | |
| 22 | 11113×6327 | YOUNGSTAR | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 51.5kg | – | 107 | |
| 23 | 11x24112x | CROSS COUNTER (GB) | Charlie Appleby | Kerrin McEvoy | 51kg | – | 109 | |
| 24 | 3×41922515 | ROSTROPOVICH (IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | Wayne Lordan | 51kg | – | 109 |
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