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.

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

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.