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Melbourne Cup: How the handicaps are decided

There is plenty of action at Caulfield this weekend. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
31st October, 2016
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The Melbourne Cup is the world’s richest handicap race and its prestige originally came from the idea that every horse had a theoretical chance of winning.

This means all horses are weight to a scale with the horses judged to have the best form and class given the most weight to carry at the top of the field, and the horses with something to prove carrying the bottom weight.

Big Orange and Our Ivanhowe carry the topweights here. Both are at 57 kilograms.

Click here to read Tristan Rayner’s exhaustive preview of the race that stops a nation, while get the low down on exotic bets here.

To stop superior horses having to carry excessive weight (i.e Phar Lap which carried 68 kilograms), the race has turned into a quality handicap system.

While the handicapping system is not precise, it does make the field as even as possible over the 3200 metres.

All initial entries for the Melbourne Cup were made by September 1 for horses of at least three-years of age.

The Victorian Racing Club (VRC) determines the weight a horse is allotted to carry and then by Septemeber 15 determines an exact handicap based on form and/or international ratings.

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A horse has to be able to carry a minimum of 50 kilograms to be eligible. The weight includes the jockey and riding gear with the final handicap figure adjusted by ballast.

85 per cent of Melbourne Cup winners have weighed between 50 kilograms and 57 kilograms.

Makybe Diva was at 58 kilos when she won her historic trifecta of Cups in 2005.

Once a horse passes the various ballot tests it is ranked by its allotted weight compared to what it would carry in a weight for age race.

A horse’s handicap can and does change after September 15 which is why some trainers have extra reason to win the lead-up handicap staying races in an effort to boost a horse’s weight and position on the ballot for qualification purposes.

Final acceptances were taken at 5pm on Derby Day and the field was confirmed at 6:30pm by the VRC.

2016 Melbourne Cup final field

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Horse Barrier Jockey Country Age Trainer Weight Odds
1 Big Orange 7 Jamie Spencer Great Britain 6 Michael Bell 57kg $15.00
2 Our Ivanhowe 6 Dwayne Dunn Germany 7 Lee & Anthony Freedman 57kg $51.00
3 Curren Mirotic 18 Tommy Berry Japan 9 Osamu Hirata 56.5kg $31.00
4 Bondi Beach 5 Ryan Moore Ireland 5 Aidan O’Brien 56kg $9.00
5 Exospheric 13 Damien Oliver Great Britain 5 Lee & Anthony Freedman 56kg $21.00
6 Hartnell 12 James McDonald Great Britain 6 John O’Shea 56kg $5.00
7 Who Shot Thebarman 20 Hugh Bowman New Zealand 8 Chris Waller 56kg $41.00
8 Wicklow Brave 24 Frankie Dettori Great Britain 8 William Mullins 56kg $15.00
9 Almoonqith 19 Michael Walker USA 7 David & B Hayes & T Dabernig 54.5kg $21.00
10 Gallante 2 Blake Shinn Ireland 6 Robert Hickmott 54.5kg $61.00
11 Grand Marshal 9 Ben Melham Great Britain 7 Chris Waller 54.5kg $41.00
12 Jameka 3 Nicholas Hall Australia 4 Ciaron Maher 54.5kg $8.50
13 Heartbreak City 23 Joao Moreira France 7 Tony Martin 54kg $16.00
14 Sir John Hawkwood 14 Blake Spriggs Ireland 8 John P Thompson 54kg $101.00
15 Excess Knowledge 21 Vlad Duric Great Britain 7 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 53.5kg $81.00
16 Beautiful Romance 1 Damian Lane Great Britain 5 Saeed Bin Suroor 52.5kg $71.00
17 Almandin 17 Kerrin McEvoy Germany 7 Robert Hickmott 52kg $13.00
18 Assign 22 Katelyn Mallyon Ireland 6 Robert Hickmott 52kg $71.00
19 Grey Lion 16 Glen Boss Ireland 5 Matt Cumani 52kg $34.00
20 Oceanographer 11 Chad Schofield Great Britain 5 Charlie Appleby 52kg $8.00
21 Secret Number 10 Stephen Baster Great Britain 7 Saeed Bin Suroor 52kg $31.00
22 Pentathlon 4 Mark Du Plessis New Zealand 5 John Wheeler 51.5kg $126.00
23 Qewy 15 Craig Williams Ireland 7 Charlie Appleby 51.5kg $26.00
24 Rose Of Virginia 8 Ben E Thompson New Zealand 7 Lee & Shannon Hope 51.5kg $151.00
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